Obeah
by ShannonL
Summary: After finding a mysterious artifact, Jounouchi begins to believe he's losing his mind. In fact, the truth is much more sinister...
1. Prolouge

Obeah

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Other, much richer people however, do. 

Timeline: After Pegasus, before Battle City, with a few minor differences in canon continuality…Ahh…just trust me, kay? 

Warnings: AU, Characters will become OOC in time, violence, language, symbolism, the supernatural will be prominent, yaoi, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Note: The title _Obeah is Creole for spirit theft. It will make more sense as the story progresses…promise._

**Prologue**

_Jounouchi began to walk._

_It began as it always had before. The dream, the vision, the glimpse into a world that was so alien and so maddeningly familiar at once – he was trapped again there. _

_The halls were devoid of all presence. He slipped through them, the shadows concealing his slight form as he made his way (as always) towards a glowing doorway. His fingers brushed one of the walls as he passed a darkened archway. Though he could not see them, had never seen them, he **knew that his fingers ran across the murals that decorated the whitewashed mud brick walls. He paused. Here were his favorites. Isis bundling up her husband's remains and breathing new life into Osiris, now the god of the dead. Renewal, Rebirth; the tale had brought a small measure of comfort to him. He wanted to change, be better than the insignificant peasant-turned-servant that he was.**_

_He wanted to be worthy._

**_Be careful what you wish for__…the voice that was his and yet not said with a hint of fear and a great deal of bitterness._**

_Jounouchi shook his head. It was hard not to lose himself here, hard to keep himself separate from the thoughts and feelings that were obviously not his own._

**_I am not a servant. I am a normal Japanese boy, with normal (well maybe not all that normal) friends, a broken (but still for all other purposes normal) family, boring school, and an undone pile of homework the size of Kaiba's ego sitting on my desk. I don't BELONG here.___**

_An amused chuckle slipped past his lips. Of course he belonged here. The palace was his home as long as he served his master. He was needed. _

_The laughter grew dark._

_He was needed…the pharaoh NEEDED him. Not to fill his cup with wine, nor to protect his back with arms…no he was needed in a way that made him cringe. What in Ra's name had he done to be so worthy of this great task, this burden, this horror._

**_This is not real,__ a voice screamed in his mind; his own and yet not so. _****I don't belong here.**

_The door loomed in front of him, beckoning._

_He stepped inside…_

And woke to a sweat soaked bed, covers twisted painfully around his limbs. Trembling, Jounouchi took stock of his surroundings: manga littered floor, rumpled school uniform hanging in a corner, his prized Duel Monsters deck occupying a place of prestige on the single shelf that housed his few treasured possessions.

Yep, all his. Definitely _his room, where he __belonged. No question about it._

Right?

Jounouchi wasn't sure anymore.

His hand brushed against the heavy gold ankh hanging around his neck as he adjusted his bedding and clamped shut his eyes in an attempt to scamper back to the land of Nod and get a decent amount of sleep before school started. No need to be caught sleeping in class and have the teacher jump down his throat for passing out during one of his oh-so-interesting monotonous lectures. Again.

Nope, couldn't have that at all.

_Be careful what you wish for._

"…too weird…"

He blacked out.

Hmmmmmmmm……is this worth continuing? Any suggestions would be welcomed.


	2. Refractions

Disclaimer: I don't own, so please don't sue.

Clarification: Nobody knows about Yami yet (except of course for Yugi and Ryou) as far as I've seen in the anime. However, Honda does realize the connection between the Ring and Ryou's extreme shifts in personality.

**Refractions**

The day began as any other day did…with the annoying screech of an alarm clock.

"Damn it! Stupid piece of…"

Fingers fumbled for the snooze button.

"EEEEEEEEE…" The machine said in chastisement while somehow maneuvering itself just out of his grasp.

"Argghhhhh!"

A loud _Ka-THUNK was heard as the offending object bounced off the nearest wall and was silenced._

A few minutes later an equally loud thump was heard as Jounouchi hit the floor himself and began crawling towards the bathroom in hope of a nice hot shower.

Fifteen minutes later and feeling only slightly human again, Jounouchi was struggling to keep eyes open as he tried to perform the tasks of styling his hair and dressing himself simultaneously. So far it wasn't working out real well.

Squinting into the mirror as he tried to gel down his hair into somewhat decent shape from the afro it had been before, something strange caught his eye. The mirror…there was only one word that described it…rippled…and peering back at him, for just a second, was a face that was not his own.

Jounouchi blinked.

What the _hell..?_

But there was nothing there.

Slightly uneasy, he went back to the motions for getting ready for school. Tucking the ankh underneath his uniform shirt, he paused to make sure that no sign of its presence would be available to any observer. It was stupid, he knew, but he had this irrational need to keep the existence of the amulet a secret. Jounouchi shook his head at himself but didn't stop himself from concealing the ankh.

It almost seemed as if his hands had a mind of their own.

By the time he reached school, the mirror incident and the accompanying unease had been dismissed as the ridiculous imaginings of a sleep deprived mind. Instead Jounouchi decided to make the best use of his time by flopping down on his desk and taking a short nap before class started. Unfortunately his friends had other ideas….

"Jounouchi! HI!" a cheery voice called out.

Jounouchi turned a bleary eye towards the speaker. Sure enough, practically skipping down the aisle towards him was Yugi Mutou.

He groaned internally. How anybody could be radiating such energy at _seven-thirty in the fricking morning was beyond him. Maybe Yugi was an alien from a distant planet, because bouncing around like he was __couldn't be humanely possible._

"Hey buddy…" YAWN "…What's up?"

Jounouchi was surprised he wasn't blinded by the grin Yugi gave as he eagerly began to relay the exploits of a litter of kittens he'd found behind the Turtle game shop. His eyes had instead settled for splitting Yugi into two, though not quite identical, images of himself.

He rubbed his eyes, feeling waves of exhaustion crash over him like waves from the sea. The din from the classroom was muted out and all he could hear was whispers in a language he couldn't understand.

_He was in a great hall, each side lined with massive stone columns. He wasn't alone though, masses of people filled it, from scantily clad servants and slaves running around with food and drink, to the idly chatting nobles, jewel bedecked and glittering. He gripped his spear and began to sweat…he was coming…_

_Pharaoh…_

He began to sway.

To be roughly shaken back to reality by strong hands gripping his shoulders. Honda was looming over him (where did he come from anyway?) while Yugi was anxiously giving him the once over. Jounouchi stiffened…he really did not want to be touched right now. Being touched seemed to promise bad things.

"I'm fine, fine. I didn't get as much sleep as I thought, 'kay?" He began to make shooing motions with his hands. Their presence was beginning to feel threatening, Yugi's especially, and he wanted seriously for them to take off.

"Fhn," was the only thing spoken. Yugi and Honda took their seats, but their expressions clearly stated that they didn't believe him. 

Truth be told, Jounouchi didn't really believe himself either.

"What's the matter with him?"

"Dunno, maybe he stayed up late watching porno movies or something…Hey don't give me that look, I ain't the guy's babysitter. I don't know what goes on in that apartment."

"Honda…y-you insensitive jerk. You're his friend…you should have a _clue!"_

Honda sighed…Anzu just wouldn't let up. She should have known by now that Jounouchi hated dumping his problems on others, preferring trying to solve them himself first. His blasted pride wouldn't allow for anything else. Forget asking about his home life; Jounouchi clammed up tighter than an oyster when anyone asked him about _that. Still, he was usually a lot more sociable than this when he was troubled._

_Stubborn idiot…ask for help for once. Don't make me strong arm it out of you. Especially since Jounouchi didn't look like he would survive Honda's preferred method of interrogation. The shuddering boy looked like death warmed over, and every once in a while his eyes would glaze over and become unfocused…as if he was seeing things that weren't there…or at least not visible to the rest of them. To say Honda was disturbed was to understate the case entirely._

But…without beating the information out of his best friend…What could he do?

_Yami?_

_/Yes Yugi? /_

_What do you think is wrong with Jounouchi? I've never seen him like this; all jumpy and spacey…Do you think he's sick?_

_/I don't know…its strange…something about this is **so familiar…but what? The answer seems to be dangling in front of me but I can't grasp it. /**_

_Yami…did we do something to scare him? For a second…he looked absolutely terrified of us. I don't want him to pull away from us cause of something we did…_

_/No…I don't think…I wish I knew what was going on. /_

Jounouchi spent the rest of the day avoiding anybody and everybody who wished to speak with him. This earned him more than a few odd looks as this was a complete 180 from the normally sociable behaviour exhibited from him. Even _Seto Kaiba was intrigued by the change. The coldly aloof businessman had stared after him as he had repeatedly brushed off any attempts at conversation with a pretty girl that kept making calf eyes at him. Taking into account that Seto considered interacting with mere mortals beneath him, he wasn't sure if he liked the attention or not.___

_What am I doing?_

He shuddered as a sudden wave of guilt hit him. _I've been a total prick today. How could he have been so cold towards the others? He would have to apologize for his rudeness tomorrow. This wasn't like him at all!_

He still wasn't sure about Kaiba though.

_Eyes on me…_

He looked about the deserted street he was wandering down. No one there….

"Stop trying to jump outta your skin Katsuya," he scolded himself. Man, was he paranoid today or what!

It was just an empty road. Just like the one he had had found the ankh on. Though, thinking back on it, why anybody would throw away such an obviously valuable item had to be one card short of a full deck. It was not like it was possessed by an evil spirit or something.

Ah well, their loss, his gain.

He still wasn't able to shake the feeling of being watched.

_Snap!_

Jounouchi yelped and spun around towards the sound, fists raised. But like before, nothing…He sighed. Turned out he'd just stepped on a twig.

"I'm being real stupid, ain't I?"

_/Maybe…/_

"Who's there?"

_/Maybe not…/_

"Show yourself. I'm warning you!"

_/You know where I am. You've always known. Find me/ the voiceless voice mocked. There was something so familiar about that voice…_

"I'm going CRAZY!"

He ran and ran, not stopping until he reached the dubious sanctuary that was his home. Spent, Jounouchi collapsed against the door. His chest burned.

"It's in my mind, it's in my mind, it's in my mind, it's in my…"

He crawled to the bathroom.

"It's in my mind, it's in my mind, it's in my mind, it's in my mind…"

His stomach upturned itself and Jounouchi suddenly found himself retching into the toilet. The heaving continued long after everything that could be emptied from his gut, had been.

_/Look at me!/_

And in the mirror, where Jounouchi's reflection should have been, stood he.

The differences in appearance between them were subtle. The mirror-stalker's own shock of blond hair was just slightly wilder, the angles of his face a tad more sharp, and the visible muscles a bit more defined. Other than that they were identical, right down to the clothes they wore. Except… except for one last feature.

Their eyes.

While Jounouchi's own were a gold color, warm and inviting, the other had eyes that rightly belonged on a demon. 

Jounouchi shuddered under the creature's contemptuous red gaze. "You're not real," he spat out. "You're just in my mind." The pain in his chest intensified. "Everything's only in my fuckin' MIND!"

_/Is it?/_


	3. Delirium

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure everyone knows by now I don't own Yu-gi-oh or its characters…

**Delirium **

_Alone. He was alone._

_He stood at the threshold of the palace, a cloth bundle containing all his worldly possessions. He tugged nervously at the hem of his simple linen tunic. There were stories told about this, dark rumors of 'Shadow' games the Pharaoh and his nobles liked to play. They said unnatural creatures prowled the corridors at night, and if you ever lost one of these games you could lose your mind, or your very **soul.  **_

_And here he was, in front of the very place that caused whispers of fear to circulate among the villagers._

_He supposed, in a way, it was his fault he was here. He had been too brave and stood out among his peers in __Egypt__, catching the notice of the Pharaoh himself. It was not a good idea to attract notice._

_Bandits had attacked his village one night. During the raid many of the villagers had fell, including his only family, his dear sister. The boy had slew as many that had been murdered but that had not been enough. Some of the village people had been taken to be sold as slaves in __Nubia__, and blinded by a demonic rage, he tracked them._

_Alone._

_ They had not gotten far before he found them. Moving swiftly and silently he dispatched half of them before they noticed their comrades dropping dead from a seemingly invisible assailant. An assailant that didn't remain invisible for long. What followed afterwards was too violent for words, but as he wiped his blade on the last of his fallen enemies, he snapped out of his bloodlust and saw the carnage he had left._

_He screamed._

_When he led the freed hostages back to their ruined village he was a hero…a defender of __Egypt__ from the scourge of their enemies. Tales of his seemingly impossible acts traveled like wild fire across the nation. He should have felt proud. Instead he was sickened by grief for his slain family. _

_Then the order had come. He had been chosen for the Pharaoh's palace guard, where the elite soldiers protected his highness and his court from the dangers posed by the nation's enemies. To refuse would have meant death for him and the entire village._

_The Pharaoh didn't really appreciate being told no._

_What had he gotten himself into?_

Jounouchi didn't appear at Domino High the next day, nor the day after that. Rumors were flying wild. Nobody knew anything, and the administration wasn't talking. All that was known for sure was that a phone call had been made to the school from the Katsuya residence. What was said remained a mystery.

Everything was a mystery.

And then the third day came…

_There **were monsters walking the hallways.**_

_He shuddered in a corner of his tiny chamber, grateful to be finally relieved of his shift. All the rumors were true…The only small comfort was that he didn't have to play their supernatural games. It was punishable by death for a person of his status to be involved in them, except with explicit permission of the Pharaoh himself._

_He gnawed at the dates and bread left for his dinner. Tonight he would be serving the High Priest and the Pharaoh himself at the royal banquet and it would not do for his stomach to rumble in hunger. It would seem odd for one of guards to be taking a position usually reserved for a slave or serving girl, but these were special circumstances. Ambassadors from __Sumer__ would be attending this feast and assassination attempts during the visits of high ranking foreign dignitaries were common. _

Anzu was beside herself with worry, "Three days. It's been THREE days! What could have happened?! Jounouchi doesn't get sick! Not like this…" She wrung her hands, "We saw the signs. Something was seriously wrong and we did _nothing_. NOTHING!" She hung her head, "We just stood by and watched."

"Anzu," Honda sighed, "We could have done nothing. Jounouchi wouldn't admit to being unwell, you know that. He can be so bullheaded sometimes…and secretive. What I suggest we do is pay him a visit and see how he's doing. Then we can wring his neck for scaring the crap out of us."

He paused and grew thoughtful.

"Ummm…Anzu?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where Jounouchi LIVES?"

_Another feast, another assassination attempt. But this time the treachery ran deeper…some of the palace guard were in on the plot dignitaries from Sinai and __Assyria__ had conceived. They and a band of mercenaries had stormed the great banquet hall and immediately attacked the guests._

_He slew the traitors swiftly as he could, but the crush of fleeing nobles hampered his movements. A quick glance revealed the Pharaoh and the High Priest fighting as well but the attackers were well trained and the chance a fatal blow might slip under their guard increased with every second. The glint in the shards of ice that passed for the High Priest's eyes told that he knew it too._

_The priest raised the staff that had served him as a dagger and a shrill keen rent the air. Out of the darkness, three sets of blue eyes appeared._

_The fighting stopped; dead silence filled the hall. All had eyes only for the scaly white creatures that slithered into the light._

_They were dragons._

_They were exceptionally beautiful._

_Not to mention extremely deadly, as their unfortunate enemies found out. Within minutes all that was left of the traitors were stains of blood on the floor. Though that was not the concern at the forefront of the boy's mind_

_The head of one of the dragons was **inches** from his face._

_Blue eyes met red, and absently he noted the red blood still trickling down the side of its mouth, marring the perfection of glittering pearl scales. He didn't move to attack the creature; instead he forced himself to assume a more relaxed and submissive posture. What was the point of striking anyway, when the dragon could remove his head with one quick snap of its jaws?_

_The dragon decided to content itself with sniffing him instead and with a high pitched whine, moved back to its master. Said master rewarded it with a few words of praise and some pats of the head... _

_He gradually became aware that he was on the receiving line of an intense appraising stare from both the High Priest and the Pharaoh. They glanced at each other and a decision seemed to flicker between them._

_"Kneel" said the Pharaoh._

_He knelt._

_"You have shown exceptional bravery and loyalty today in my service. Tell me, what is your name?"_

_He gave it._

**_My name is Jounouchi_**_ a voice seemed to scream and was silenced.  He didn't let a flicker of his internal unease appear on his face. Instead he kept his features composed in an expression of total respect and attentiveness as befitted a servant._

_"What do you think of my dragons?" The High Priest had his attention focused squarely on him, his features fixed in a neutral look. Yet there was something flickering behind his gaze, what he could not tell. He just hoped that whatever the thought was, it did not involve harm to him or his village kin._

_"They're beautiful my lord. I've never seen such creatures as lovely as these." Awe and reverence, against his will, crept into his voice._

_"As a reward for your outstanding courage and loyalty to us, I award you the powers necessary to compete in the Shadow games. You are now permitted to participate. Give me your hand."_

_Numbly, he did so. He was terribly frightened. Indeed possessing the dark powers gave many advantages to the bearer that the ordinary man did not possess…but…but the price! If he played a game and **lost**… _

_A burning sensation began to travel up his arm. The golden pyramid that hung around the Pharaoh's neck was glowing white, and he felt like his innards were being incinerated as the fiery energy infused itself into every fiber of his body. Yet he did not cry out. It would be taken as a sign of weakness. The energy concentrated itself on a focal point in the middle of his forehead and for a second a golden eye shone forth. The pain began to lessen and drained, he sagged to the floor._

_The Pharaoh smiled warmly…a shocking sight for the servant boy. "You will be pleased to know that part of your new powers allows you to control and bind monsters to yourself." His shock grew worse, the pharaoh knew exactly how much he admired the High Priest's monsters…and even more incredible…he was being spoken to like… like an **equal**. "Lord Set will train you in your abilities while you are not attending to your new duties as Captain of the Guard." The Pharaoh smiled ruefully. "My old one is now in the belly of one of Lord Set's beasts."_

_A deep throaty rumble made them turn. Perched in the middle of the hall was another dragon with glossy black scales and crimson eyes and just as beautiful as his pale counterparts. The Pharaoh made a small noise of satisfaction and stated, "As I see you like dragons, this creature seemed like an appropriate first monster for you."_

_"Go ahead and claim him. He's yours." _

Finding Jounouchi turned out to be a more difficult task than they thought. Turned out Katsuya was a common family name in Domino and at one glance at the length of the list of Katsuyas had them chucking the phone book away. No use finding him that way.

Trying to find out the information from the school secretary was equally useless. They got the usual run around about student information confidentiality and if they wanted to know where their friend lived they should ask him themselves. Tiny problem there. The reason they were asking in the first place was because they couldn't find Jounouchi, and hadn't been able to for three days. The secretary had simply shook her head and sighed about not making the policy but having to follow it anyway. Both left the school ready to explode in frustration and take out anyone who was foolish enough to be around them when it happened.

To _hell_ with bureaucracy! 

Next stop was the Turtle game shop. They were practically tackled by Yugi, demanding to know if they had found out ANYTHING. Yugi's own search for Jounouchi had been fruitless. Nobody had seen him. Then again, not many people could see his comings and goings. Jounouchi could slink through the shadows like a panther if he wanted.  

Yugi paused then. Jounouchi had once said he was so secretive about his movements and home because he was the enemy of many gangs in Domino. He had suggested that Yugi should also be careful; anyone who wanted to harm him might strike at Yugi first. He didn't like it, but Jounouchi _did have a reputation. And with all the feathers he had ruffled over the years, there had to be someone gunning for him. If they had come across his friend in his weakened condition…_

He shuddered. At least _he_ had backup. If anyone even dared attack him, they'd promptly lose their minds, courtesy of one spirit of the puzzle. Jounouchi had no one….

Yugi gathered his resolve. There was one person left that had even a hope of finding him. And he suddenly didn't care what he had to do to make him do it too.

_Life had certainly gotten more pleasurable after his promotion. A larger space to sleep in, more food to eat, a constant companion in the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Even if he couldn't see his friend as he lead the patrols through the palace, he knew he was there in the shadows, waiting…He no longer feared most of the monsters, finding them not to be the demons he thought they were, though some made him step warily. That could not be said of the Shadow games…he avoided them best he could. He could never forget the price that went along with his new powers…that if he wasn't careful; he could lose his very soul._

_That, in his opinion was the worst fate that could ever befall a person. _

_He found those who had actually taken souls disgusting, inhuman. Unfit to exist._

_Lord Set had helped him through the awkwardness of adjusting to his new abilities. He had been surprisingly gentle as he showed him what he could do, taught him how to properly duel. They had taken walks together in the Shadow Realm, Set patiently pointing out and explaining everything that he needed to know and he eagerly soaked the knowledge like a sponge. Lord Set was an enigma: yes, he could be cold, cunning, ruthless to a fault, damn he did have quite the temper, but there also a warmer side under all that ice._

_And shocking himself, he found he actually cared about the taciturn priest. He found himself doing a lot of things that his mind deemed unwise these days._

_He'd be damned to admit he actually loved the guy. How could he? One priest wasn't able to maneuver his way past the walls surrounding his heart and actually become…_

_Oh shit._

_NOT good, not-as-in-get-painfully-executed-good. Servants do not fall in love their superiors, it just **wasn't** done. _

_He would never be able to say a word._

It only took five minutes for Seto Kaiba to hack his way into the school computer network and retrieve Jounouchi's address. Leaning back with a self-satisfied smirk, Seto stared at the little group littering his office.

"So," he drawled, "why hasn't the mutt told you where he lives? He's _your_ friend, isn't he? It's funny, isn't it; I pegged him for the trusting, gullible type. Well looks like I was wrong about the trusting part at least."

Yugi snarled, "He trusts us! He cares for us; he's proven it many times! So what if he's secretive about where he lives; if I had gangsters after me all the time, I'd be real cautious too. And he is _not as stupid as you think!" He finished in a huff._

"Gangsters, eh?" Seto said softly. " If he really is your friend, then why hasn't he called you, anyone of you. Just. Once."

"We d-don't know," Anzu stammered.

"Let's find out then." He punched his intercom, "Yukino, please have my driver pull out front and drive myself and three friends to the following address…" He then rattled out an address that obviously had to be Jounouchi's. With a click the intercom went dead. "Come on. The pup has some explaining to do."

_Storm clouds were gathering over __Egypt__._

_Abuse of the powers of Darkness by the nobles were reaching unprecedented levels and the powers themselves, according to Lord Set, were growing, intensifying in strength…and becoming chaotic in the process. It was driving the ones who had access to the powers insane._

_The instability was becoming so bad, it threatened to rip __Egypt__ apart._

_He had felt the changes himself. For days he had been sick, unable to eat and barely able to sleep. He wondered, at times, how long he had before he succumbed to the madness._

_The Pharaoh, it was reputed, was working on a way to seal off the powers so no one could use them again. All the High Priest said on the matter was that it would require a tremendous sacrifice, the greatest sacrifice a person could make._

_The way he said it…it was like he was warning him, like he was going to be involved in the whole mess, like Set wanted him to prepare himself for the days ahead._

_He trembled._

_Knock, knock…_

Nobody answered. Fortunately no one needed to, the door was unlocked and swung open, revealing to the small group the shabby glory that was the Katsuya apartment.

"Is anyone there?"

No answer.

They cautiously made their way through the living room. The place looked like it had been trashed. There were sake bottles everywhere.

"Oh my God! Jounouchi!"

Anzu had found Jounouchi's room and when the rest of the group rushed in they were treated to a horrific sight. Curled in a ball on his bed Jounouchi laid trembling. His face was grey, his breathing shallow, his clothes sweat soaked. Honda gently took his friend's wrist and gasped.

"Gods, Yugi, it's like he's on fire! And his pulse, it's very weak. He should be in a hospital!"

"I found him like that you know, lying in the bathroom," a voice replied out of the shadows. They turned and found a middle aged man surrounded by beer cans, and clutching another in his trembling fist. "Only he was screaming then. Said something about someone stalking him. Said it couldn't be real, that all of it had to be in his mind. That was four days ago. All he's done since is lie there and choke down water. And cry. He cried." He gulped the rest of his beer in one swig, then reached for another, letting the old can fall to the ground at his feet. "My poor boy…"

Seto whirled on him, "And you did _nothing?! He needs a doctor! Look at him!" He pointed to the shuddering form on the bed. "What kind of father leaves his son like this?"_

Rheumy eyes stared defiantly at him. "Can't afford no doctor. Do we look rich to you? This is the best I can do!"

"You FOOL! Japan has universal healthcare…it wouldn't cost you a penny to get him some help!" Yugi cried.

Anything that would have been said afterwards was cut off as Jounouchi let loose one single choking cry.

Seto whipped out his cellphone, "Operator? Yes this is an emergency. I need an ambulance at…"

_He stood in front of the door, and mustering all of his courage, stepped inside…_

Items of interest for my readers: Nubia, Sumer, Sinai, and Assyria were all actual countries that existed during the time of ancient Egypt, though when during that time, I haven't a clue. Interestingly enough, Japan's Weekly Jump is running what I believe to be the explanation into Yami's past and the creation of the millennial items right now in the manga, but since I don't read Japanese, I don't have a clue on what's going on. 

From what I know, Japan's health care system is very like Canada's, with some of the same problems too. Also of note, much later on in the manga, Jounouchi is involved in and is playing Shadow games. As for Jou's 'illness', explanation comes next chapter…'kay? As for Ryou…expect him soon…


	4. Abyss

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh – yet.

Warnings: bad psychobabble, shounen ai, slight religious themes and symbolism.

Sorry for the delay…school and work are hectic right now and it doesn't look like it's slowing down soon. 

**Abyss**

Dr. Kosemura rubbed her temples and sighed. Her latest patient was absolutely baffling. When Jounouchi Katsuya was brought into the E.R. last night, she thought she had a boy with a rampant infection or a drug overdose on her hands. Well, the outward symptoms seemed to indicate either of them; a fever, shallow breathing, weak pulse, convulsions, delirious ramblings, the list went on. 

The doctor's lips quirked in momentary amusement. Kid had a real fixation on ancient Egypt. Kept mumbling about being a soldier in the Pharaoh's army, monsters running around in the corridors, and once or twice about a High Priest named Lord Set. When he woke up from his sleep, she would give him a lecture about reading too many adventure novels.

If he woke up.

It was a sobering thought but true. Kosemura hadn't the slightest clue on what was causing Katsuya's illness. She had run blood tests, urine tests, tested him for any kind of narcotic she knew of…but nothing…absolutely nothing. Aside from getting some strange recordings of brainwaves, there was nothing wrong.

He was in perfect health.

This made her job as a physician all the more frustrating. There seemed to be no cause, nothing that could account for this boy's condition.

_Like the alternative is any easier to swallow. Come on girl, you **know it's a load of bunk.**_

Once, in that dreadfully boring Medical History 101 class she had taken while pursuing her M.D. her instructor had mentioned that people once believed that the body was filled with humors, that if they were out of wack, the person could become seriously ill or die. Well, of course that was a truckload of bullshit, but as the teacher went on, he referred to an emerging line of thought in the medical, and especially, psychological fields. That the mind could affect the body in more ways than could be imagined. After all, the brain was a mysterious organ, not much was known about it, not even in these days. Who knew what it was capable of?

She had had a good hearty laugh with several of her colleagues at a bar after _that_ lecture. 

And now…now she wasn't laughing. It seemed like the only explanation that could account for this. Either Jounouchi Katsuya had seen, or heard, or learnt something that his mind would not accept, and he was suffering from a sort of mental collapse that dragged the body down with it.

But she had never heard of anything like this! Not one case!

Sighing she went back to her charts and test results…she would keep searching for the cause…no matter how obscure it may be.

_It felt like he was swimming in cold peanut butter as he tried to navigate the inky blackness he was trapped in. Every time he saw a spark of light and tried to move towards it, he was sucked farther into the shadows. And the dreams…or should he say visions, wouldn't stop assaulting him…memories that weren't his…_

_"Are they memories?" he asked no one in particular. He didn't really expect an answer…it didn't seem like anybody was currently occupying the same dark abyss he was._

_/So he finally catches on…'bout time. /_

_Scratch that._

_"Alright jerk, what are you doing messin' with my head?! What's with the creepy visions? And finally, why can't I get outta here? You trapped me in here, didn't you! I seriously want OUT!"_

_/Deal with the 'messin' with my head' stuff. We're stuck together now, hikari. And those creepy visions are my past, thank you very much, and yours too in a way. / The voice grumbled. /And get this through your thick skull; I'm real, not one of your fantasies. So stop fighting my presence and do yourself a favor while you're at it. Your little refusal of reality is killing you. /_

_The voice bitterly chuckled, /Not that it makes a difference to me…I died a long time ago. /_

_"Killin' me? I feel fine…"_

_/Sure you do. After all, you're a little detached from your body right now. News flash buddy, you're in a coma! /_

_"…What are you?" Jounouchi whispered. Things were swirling in front of him, faces, memories…places he'd never seen, but been to all the same._

_/A shadow, / was whispered, / your shadow. / _

_"And…here?"_

_/Don't you know? / the shadow wonderingly replied, /We're in your mind…/ _

Yugi paced the hall outside of Jounouchi's room. He hated hospitals…before he'd met Yami he'd spent a fair bit of time in them, recovering from the various injuries bullies had chosen to inflict on him. He wrinkled his nose; hospitals usually stank of disinfectant and bleach, and this one was no different. Doctors and nurses rushed around him, attending to this and that, ignoring the worried wanderings of one small teenager.

He wondered when Dr., what's her name, Kosemura, would show up and tell him exactly what was wrong with his friend. It was torturous not even knowing what was causing the illness that had sent his best friend into a coma.

He strode back into the tiny chamber to see if there had been any change, though logically he knew that nothing had happened. The steady beep of a heart monitor greeted him as he sat down beside Jounouchi's bed. Yugi hollowly gazed at the medical equipment, at the IV that dripped a steady supply of medications, nutrients, and electrolytes down into his bloodstream.

What held his attention was Jounouchi himself.

When they had arrived at the hospital Jounouchi had launched into a fit of seizures. It had taken four muscle bound orderlies to keep him still as he tried to kick and claw his way free of the medical gurney. Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped and Jounouchi had gone as limp as a rag doll.

Some of the orderlies had needed splints and stitches.

He whisked some of Jounouchi's hair off his nose. It might have been his imagination but it seemed like Jounouchi's face seemed to subtly shift back and forth as he lay there. At times it seemed sharper than it should have been, but a few seconds later it had regained the softness it had seemingly lost. 

Something then caught his eye. Looped around Jounouchi's neck was a leather cord like the one he used to keep the millennium puzzle hung around his own. Intrigued Yugi lifted up the blankets. Sure enough, underneath the thin hospital gown he wore, was a lump resting on Jounouchi's chest.

_What **is that?**_

He reached for the cord…

"Mr. Mutou?"

He jerked back like someone had stabbed him with a cattle prod.

"Dr. Kosemura!"

A sharp clack of heels accompanied the doctor as she swept into the room, Seto ghosting in behind her. She had a pinched expression on her face, and her hair was sticking out of sleek bun at the nape of her neck. Yugi shuddered. She was not bringing good news.

"Mr. Mutou, Mr. Kaiba, please, have a seat." She gestured to a pair of uncomfortable looking plastic chairs in a corner. "I assume you want to know my diagnosis."

She rung her hands, and began to pace. "I will be honest with you," she began, "I have never had a more baffling case in my twenty years as a physician. We have run every test that we have and…nothing. Absolutely nothing. All we have found are some strange brainwaves…"

"Doctor," Seto interrupted, "what are you trying to tell us?"

Dr. Kosemura swung one arm to point at Jounouchi. "What I'm trying to say is that there's nothing wrong with him. There's no physical cause f-for…" she stuttered, "this!"

"There's nothing wrong…" whispered Yugi absently, "nothing…"

Seto meanwhile was looking thoughtful as he studied the comatose and restrained teenager. "Doctor…" he murmured, "you said something about strange brainwaves?"

"Yes…" Kosemura looked at him strangely. "You couldn't possibly think…"

"Is it possible?"

"There's nothing that would support that line of reasoning."

"There's nothing that isn't supporting it either. Is it?"

A defeated sigh. "Yes."

Yugi jumped up and down while waving his arms. "Hey!" he said, "Mind clueing the rest of us in?!" 

"It's called neural shock, Yugi. It's a psychological condition that shuts down the body and mind after the person discovers something especially traumatic. But there's no proof of that happening. And I'm not a psychologist…I have very little knowledge of the inner workings of the mind. It's a guess, at best. Nothing more…" Dr. Kosemura gave an irritated huff and glared at Seto. "You shouldn't be jumping to conclusions."

Her pager beeped. She glanced down at it and sighed. Back to the daily grind. She almost welcomed it.

"Gentlemen. I'm sorry I have to leave but I'm needed for another patient. Good day…"

She practically ran out of the room.

"Stop that!"

"What?"

"Staring at me. I'm not here for your viewing pleasure. If you must know, I've taken a few psychology classes. Comes in handy when dealing with board members."

"Then why are you here?"

"…."

_"What's with the door?"_

_/ What?! / _

_"You know, the **door. The one at the end of the creepy hallway in those visions of yours. Come on, if you're going to be crashing in my head, I'm going to be demanding some kind of rent. So pay up! I want answers and I want them now!" Jounouchi fumed. He didn't just have voices in his head, he had smart ass, secretive, **rude** voices in his head.**_

_/Can I hear a please with that? / The shadow sing-songed. He was finding it amusing to irritate the teenager. **Great, stuck with smart ass, secretive, rude, and sadistic voices…**_

****

_"Just talk." _

_/ Is that a threat? Because it's pathetic at best. Even your friend Yugi can do better…shameful really. / He sounded bored. Key word: sounded. Underneath the boredom was a barely contained seething ocean of rage and hate. And the unmistakable feeling of violation. The door was clearly a touchy subject._

_Jounouchi didn't find himself caring. The spirit could bitch all he wanted, but in the end, Jounouchi was going to know, one way, or the other._

_/ You don't know what you ask./_

"Visiting hours are over Mr. Kaiba. You have to leave him now."

Seto turned a questioning look towards the young nurse standing in the doorway. The woman shuddered as she received a death glare worthy of the best of them. But being a nurse required a little backbone, especially when dealing with irate and stubborn family and friends of the patients. She decided to stand her ground.

"It's hospital policy Mr. Kaiba. No exceptions, not even for you." She softened her tone. "There's nothing you can do for him. We're watching over him, rest assured we'll notify you of the slightest change. Go home, sleep, maybe pray a little…he'll be here when you get back."

Seto snorted. Home was the last place he wanted to be. With Mokuba gone on a school trip…it was just himself in the large, lonely house. Somehow being alone wasn't just jiving for him right now. Peculiar for the lone wolf. Sleep? Wasn't tired, and prayer…not happening. No one ever answered anyway. It didn't work.

It never worked.

"Mr. Kaiba….?"

"Mr. Kaiba is staying Mizuki. He's somehow wrangled permission from our director to let him stay, provided he doesn't make a nuisance of himself." Dr. Kosemura leaned on the doorway, a little frown marring her professionally composed mask. "Come. I need your help with patient Inoue." With that she trotted down the hallway, Mizuki at her heels.

Kaiba turned his attention to Jounouchi lying on the bed. "Don't get it in your head I like you after this. I d-don't," he faltered, and shook himself to regain the small bit of composure he had lost. It baffled him that he was doing this. _Why_ was he doing this? He didn't know. The mutt was a source of dual amusement and annoyance for him…nothing more…

He did not care…

He took Jounouchi's hand.

Did not care…

He tucked the covers tightly around the teenager. Some fool had knocked them askew, probably by lifting them and not properly putting them back.

Then why?

"It's just…no one should be like this. Locked up, alone, helpless in an abyss of shadows…" He squeezed his eyes shut. He did not want to remember the consequences of his duel with Pegasus. He relived enough of it in his nightmares. "I remember it being cold there…I couldn't move…I was alone, with only my demons to keep me company. After a while…I wasn't sure of what was real or not. It was terrible…I'm sure you know, you're going through it right now. Perhaps that's why I'm here; just to let you know that you're not alone…I don't know…" It wasn't like Jounouchi could hear him…It was just…

He didn't know…

_"It's getting warmer in here. Wonder why?"_

_No answer…_

_Jounouchi curled into a ball. Even though it had gotten warmer, he still felt cold. There was something about this place that leeched the heat from his body._

_And it was still as dark as before._

_He didn't know how long he floated there but he didn't really care either. Things were beginning to flicker in the blackness and that held his attention. They weren't the shadow's memories…they were his._

_He could see faces there, all his friends drifting across the void. But there were differences there that couldn't be right. Ryou and Yugi were split in two, not quite identical copies. But that wasn't the only thing to be noticed. The versions that seemed to be the most innocent of the pair were aglow with a soft pearly light, while their more dangerous counterparts seemed to suck the gloom, seemed to be living shadows._

_"Shadows…"_

_He had often noticed, during Yugi's battles in __Duelist__Kingdom__, that a peculiar change had come over his best friend. Somehow, he became more confident, arrogant almost…his voice changed…and Yugi's eyes had seemed to get redder. That, and the fact that during these 'shifts', Yugi was wearing this tight, bondage style leather shirt, when ten seconds before, Jounouchi would have been willing to swear up and down that he'd been wearing something a tad more conservative underneath that uniform jacket. Not to forget that the people who threatened Yugi during these duels (and outside them too) tended to conveniently lose their grip on reality shortly afterwards._

_And then there was Ryou. Ryou was exceptionally shy by nature, polite, and unobtrusive. Most of the time that was. There were moments when he seemed positively evil and psychotic. Oh yeah, weird shit happened around him too. Case in point: the mysterious murders of Pegasus's guards during the rescue of Mokuba. Honda had once told him that Ryou had pulled a card from his deck, a Man-eater Bug, brought it to life, and let it chow down on the hapless flunkies._

_Jounouchi thought it was Honda's strange sense of humor trying to express itself again._

_Apparently not._

_And here was the thing he noticed most…both boys seemed to grow a couple inches when they were off on their mood shifts._

_"Could it be…that Yugi and Ryou are really divided into two different people? Could this be real?"_

_Jounouchi shuddered. The voice had called himself his shadow._

_"Could he be real…? Could any of this be **real**…?"_

_He found himself accepting the fact._

_ The world shattered._

A loud beeping noise woke Seto from his nap in his chair. That was followed by a semi-scream, semi-croak. Jounouchi was trashing on the bed, his restraints hampering any movement that he tried to make. 

The door burst open and a contingent of doctors and nurses swarmed into the room, Dr. Kosemura in the lead. Quickly they wheeled him out of the room to places unknown, leaving a stunned Seto Kaiba in their wake.

The shock wore quickly off though. Seto charged after them.

**_I hurt…I hurt…I'm being pulled somewhere but I don't know where…It's so dark. I can't see where I'm going._**__

_The door loomed before him. The door in his dreams…He reached out towards it…certain that answers lay on the other side._

_"Arrgh!"_

_Something had brutally yanked him back._

_/ Some things aren't meant to be known. /_

_"Why **not!?" he grabbed his doppelganger. He was tried of the run around, sick of the confusion, and just plain pissed at the cryptic bastard. He wanted answers. He **deserved** answers.**_

_/Someday you'll know the truth…not now. /_

_A searing pain erupted in the side of his head. Things grew hazy. It was like someone had taken a baseball bat to his skull._

_Everything burst into light._

"He's coming to!"

Someone was shinning a light in his eyes. Irritated, he swatted it away.

"Somebody tell me his pulse!"

"Kido! Put that light out!"

"Who wants to inform his family and friends?"

"Where's his father?"

"Detox…kid's alone then…"

"Somebody better tell them something. They're getting antsy out there. That Honda kid might break down the door any second!"

All these voices, speaking at once. _Shut up. Shut up! My head hurts. It was babble, white noise. He wanted them to take a hike._

"Mr. Katsuya?" a soft voice asked. It belonged to a middle age woman with frazzled hair sticking out of a bun. "I'm Dr. Kosemura. You're at Domino Medical."

Jounouchi gave her a weak smile in response.

"Now, I need you to answer a few questions? Do you remember getting sick?"

"No…I…don't"

A frown creased his face as he searched for the events following that last day of school. There were huge holes in his memory. He scowled as he tried to remember anything. Nothing; the huge holes had become a void. Memories slipped through his fingers like sand.

"I don't remember anything."


	5. Here There Be Dragons

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu gi Oh. You might want to be grateful for that fact.

Warnings: BLOOD, VIOLENCE, and GORE… (Yeah, language and shounen ai as well). This is _only_ the start folks.

And thanks for all your supportive reviews, I really appreciate it.

**Here There Be Dragons**

"You can't remember anything?!"

"No, not really. Everything's all kinda hazy…" Jounouchi clutched his head, "Uhhhh…It feels like somebody took a steel pipe to my skull."

"Sounds like amnesia to me," commented one of the attending doctors, "happens sometimes after coming up from a coma. It will probably clear up in an hour. If not…well we'll run some more tests."

From his vantage point on the bed, he could see the Kosemura woman head out to the waiting room. Immediately a chorus of voices began yelling questions, one after another, non stop. Jounouchi winced. His friends were many things, but quiet they were not.

"So loud…" he moaned.

The ache in his head intensified as a feminine shriek spilt the air.

Uh oh…sounded like Anzu had heard something she didn't like.

One of the other doctors moved to the door and ordered the occupants in the other room to keep their voices down. Which worked for about ten nanoseconds and then the clatter rose up again. He smirked slightly. Anzu was demanding entrance, and threatening decapitation to anybody who stood in her way. He began to mentally count the seconds until the doctors folded.

One…

Two…

Three…

The doors to the operating room crashed open. Jounouchi pouted. He'd thought the docs would've lasted a couple more seconds…

"Imagine saying that we couldn't see you! The doctors said there's nothing wrong with you, so why shouldn't we?"

"Anzu…not so loud. My head hurts." Jounouchi blinked. "Hey, where are the others? I thought I heard them out there." 

As if on cue, three other figures loomed over him. Yugi…Honda…and _Seto Kaiba_!? What the hell was going on here? And more importantly, did he actually look…remotely concerned. Jounouchi stared up at him, transfixed. His normally cool blue eyes were blood shot and weary, dark raccoon like circles ran under his eyes and his hair was limp and matted to his head. Maybe he had stayed up late or something…then it occurred to him to wonder exactly why he'd done that and why he wasn't impeccably groomed as usual. _Could he have stayed here…for me?_ The thought was unsettling to say the least. Kaiba usually helped others when it benefited him, and where was the benefit here?

Nagging thoughts were beginning to creep up on him, and he could hear whispering at the edge of his consciousness. Memories of a cold and lonely street and someone in the shadows.

"Hi," he croaked out.

"Are you okay Jou?" Yugi asked plaintively. He didn't look so great either.

"Yeah, though I could ask the same of you. Ya all look awful!" He continued to stare at Kaiba.

"You had us all worried. You've been sick for a week." 

"A week?" Jounouchi said dazedly, "Sick? But I don't remember getting sick…All I remember is that street…" He shuddered… "I was walking…and then…it goes blank…" He decided not to mention the presence or the flashes he was getting of things he did not quite understand. Something told him that it was crucial not to.

"Were you attacked?" asked Honda. His eyes gleamed dangerously. If he got the hint that that was the case, well, someone was going to end up in a lot of pain.

Something in Yugi's demeanor seemed to echo the sentiment. He blinked, and blinked yet again. Somehow, God and Yugi Mutou only knew how, he was wearing the black bondage shirt that always showed up when Yugi's darker side decided to rear its head.

"I d-don't know…" he stammered, still trying to figure out where Yugi kept getting the fetish clothes.  "There wasn't anybody in the area, least none I could see. I-I…I-I'm sorry, I don't know."

"The doctors found no traces of injuries…" Seto intoned.

"Then what happened?"

"_That_ seems to be the question of the day, now doesn't it?"

Hours later, in the dead of night, Jounouchi moaned as he slept twisted in his sheets. Sweat poured from his body as he tried to escape the demons chasing him in his dreams.

_Shizuka clawed at the arms restraining her but to no avail. The strength of a five year old was nothing compared that of an adult. Similarly the struggles of a seven year didn't do much good either._

_"Help me Jounouchi!" A tiny hand reached out and Jounouchi reached back, their fingertips brushing as they desperately tried to hold onto the one source of comfort in their lives. Fingers entwined for the briefest of moments and then were brutally torn apart._

_"Noooo!"_

_"Give it up Jounouchi. You have to let her go," one of the social workers told him, in a world weary tone that didn't have much room for sadness or regret. "She's going to your mom, it's better this way."_

_"No! You're wrong! She's all I have left! Shizuka! SHIZUKA!"_

_"Brother!" a pitiful wail answered, and he bit down hard enough on his captor's arm to draw blood. She was hauled out of sight as he began to chase her, there was the slamming of car doors and the squeal of tires, and then…silence. Just a settling dust cloud and the last image of her panic stricken face pressed against the glass of one of the car's windows._

_Jounouchi's vision grew red and the landscape shifted to one littered with corpses. He was older here, a young man treading softly through the fields of dead, looking intently for something…someone. He didn't notice the sword gripped tightly in his hand, or the fact that he was as soaked in blood as the ground below him was. He froze._

_There she was._

_"Sister!" he screamed, leaping over the dead and dodging the few areas that still burned from the invaders' fire._

_There she lay, her simple white dress spoiled by the blood seeping from the wound in her chest. Her blue eyes were staring at the sky and their clarity was fast becoming dull and clouded. As he watched and held her hand, one last gurgling throttle escaped her throat and then she was completely still. A scream of denial escaped his throat as he gently picked her up to put her where nobody would disturb her. _

_"Sister." He sobbed._

"SHIZUKA!"

Jounouchi shot up from the hospital bed. He absently wiped away tears as he tried to calm his racing heart. The gaps were gone in his memory; he remembered the street, the mirror and the void.

He remembered everything.

_Are you still there? Spirit? Yami?_

Silence. Either the spirit wasn't there or it would/could not answer.

Unsettled, Jounouchi buried himself back into the covers. It was cold in the room and he had the distinct sensation of being watched.

Fingers lightly caressed the glass as Seto turned and walked away from the only small window that served as a glimpse into Jounouchi's room. Had he been less out of it, perhaps he wouldn't have been standing vigil over someone he wasn't even sure was a friend. But he had; something in him was compelling him to keep an eye out for the blonde.

Perhaps it was guilt for past treatment, perhaps some foolish misplaced sympathy, who knew…but it had to stop. Things were getting weird, and any developing softness had to be squashed.

He couldn't afford that weakness.

"You're releasing him?! What do you mean you're _releasing him?!" _

Anzu paced back and forth across the waiting room floor in frustration. Though the concern was nice, Jounouchi decided, he had had enough mother henning to last a lifetime. Of course, what was enough mother henning was a thing up to debate. For Jounouchi it was three days, but for _Anzu…he mentally shuddered. He probably wouldn't escape her clucking until he was eighty._

"Where's he going to go? His father's in re-hab, he won't be out anytime soon. What a mess. He can't live on his own."

"Living on my own is _exactly_ what I've been doing since I was seven, Anzu," shot back Jounouchi a little more bitter than he would have liked. "He was never around, at least speaking mentally," he gave a weak grin, "I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself." 

"What about your mom?" Anzu pressed.

"She lives in the States with my sis." Jounouchi replied. "Immigrated right before Shizuka's operation and they became citizens soon after. They can't come back to live here. Becoming an American means that you have to give up your citizenship of your native land. As for going there myself…the process takes too long. 'Sides, I don't think I would even be considered acceptable citizen material."

"Do they even know?"

"No," something in Jounouchi countenance darkened. His eyes seemed to flash red. "Lost almost all contact with them just after they moved. Mom wanted a fresh start. Since Shizuka needed to get her operation done in the US, I guess it was the perfect excuse. I get an e-mail occasionally from her and Shizuka; I don't get an address."

"Don't you have _anyone_?!"

"Nope."

"Don't say that Jounouchi, anyone of us would take you in!" cried Yugi.

"Listen, Yugi, I appreciate the sentiment, I really do," Jounouchi began, shaking his head, "but Yugi, can you afford to keep me? One extra mouth at the table…man that's a lot of yen. And that's just the table. And what about Gramps? What would he say? What would any of your parents say? Do they even have the room? Geez, Yugi, I don't wanna be that kind of burden to ya guys."

"Speaking of money, just how do you plan to get a hold of it? A job perhaps? You know as well as I do that after-school jobs are prohibited by our school. Anzu is lucky that nobody found out about hers, she would be expelled if they did." Honda spoke up.

"Kaiba's CEO of a multinational corporation and he still goes to school. And if I'm not imagining things here, running a business takes up a heck of a lot more time then waiting tables at Burger World. How come he's not been kicked out yet?"

"Simple. Money talks. That and the fact since I can balance taking care of myself, Mokuba, my business, and my homework helps." 

"You're not helping…" Anzu growled.

Seto smirked. "Who said I was going to."

She turned purple and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'jackass'.

Seto just raised one elegant eyebrow. "Really?" The smirk grew wider.

Jounouchi chuckled to himself. Arguments that pitted Seto against Anzu were truly entertaining. But as much fun as watching the two was, more important things had to take precedence. Like, oh, getting three well meaning, but currently annoying friends off his backside. Pity, it was time to play the peacemaker.

"Aww, guys not here, not now. Save it for my birthday or something."

Comment ignored.

"Anyway, Jounouchi has enough money to live on for awhile. The remainder of the money from his sister's operation should be enough till he graduates or his dad gets out of rehab."

"I am _not_ touching that. It's for Shizuka, when she goes to university." Jounouchi bristled. Yugi had given him the three million US after the tournament, and about one million remained after all the medical bills were paid and done…but the money wasn't his, couldn't be his. Yugi had explicitly said to use it for his sister, and that was what he was going to do. Besides…he hadn't earned it…he'd lost any claim to it when his life points hit zero in that final duel long ago.

"Jounouchi?" Yugi piped up. "How much money is left?"

He sighed..."About one million with interest. I put it in a bond; I don't know how much has built up between then and now."

Total silence.

"Whoa…th-that's a lot." Honda sputtered.

Anzu's jaw was working like a fish's. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open…

Yugi just looked shocked.

And Seto…well, Seto was Seto. Cool, calm, collected…Course then again…he had known…exactly…how…wait a second.

"You've been hacking into my bank statements Kaiba!"

Seto shrugged.

Still thunderstruck looking, Yugi muttered, "Well that explains how he's going to pay for this."

A few weeks later, Jounouchi lugged home his groceries. Independence was…interesting, to say the least. Bills, visits from social workers, bills, speaking with the school administration about his new living status, more bills…adult, or at least semi-adult, life was more demanding than he thought. And a lot more lonely.

His friends had been wonderful in trying to help him through it. Yugi and his grandfather especially. They popped over at odd times, helped him fix up the apartment, and more importantly, listened and gave advice when things got too much to handle.

He still wasn't too happy about using the remainder of the prize money to live off of. Even though Yugi had given his blessings, and had practically forced him into using it…it still felt wrong, like he was using his friend for his own personal gain. Like betraying him somehow. He resolved to save what he could for Shizuka; she deserved anything that could make her life a bit easier.

And then there was the little matter of Seto Kaiba. He _still didn't know what to make of him. And lately, lately he'd been catching him staring at him when he thought Jounouchi wasn't looking. It was disturbing. But still he resolved to be warmer to the other boy. Kaiba…_Seto_, seemed to be thawing and the last thing he wanted to do was bring about another freeze in the businessman. Perhaps they could be friends one day…Jounouchi had to grudgingly admit that for his act of kindness at the hospital, his perceptions of Seto were changing._

 He angrily kicked a beer can down the alleyway. Jounouchi cursed himself for actually developing a bit of respect and dare he say, liking for the brunet. Had that whole hospital incident affected him more than he thought? Fuzzy feelings of any sort were premature in this case, _way_ too premature.

Just _what_ kind of drugs had they been slipping into his bloodstream at that place, anyway? 

_Crunch._

Jounouchi narrowed his eyes as he sensed the presences tailing him and cursed himself for the fool he was for not noticing them sooner. He then felt a cold chill run down his spine. His spirit, or yami, as he preferred to refer to himself, had woken up. _Not now…I can handle this. Over the few weeks the spirit hadn't said much, just watching everything through Jounouchi's eyes. He knew the yami had been taking stock of his surrounding, analyzing everything and everyone around him. The modern world must have been a horrible surprise to the ancient spirit, but he guessed culture shock was wearing off quickly. Adaptation was a necessity in the ancient world, and considering what his yami's life had been like, he was pretty certain he was a master at it._

Jounouchi calmly stopped. He was surrounded and there was no way out without a fight. However, through past experience, he knew he could take out the five tailing him.

However, escaping with a minimal amount of injuries was another story…

He dropped his groceries.

"Come out, and face me."

And so they did. All _ten_ of them.

_SHIT!!!_ Ambush…a planned ambush. Not good…not good…And with the expressions on their faces, it was likely they were planning for him to come out in a body bag.

"Morimita," Jounouchi addressed the leader mildly, "It's a pleasure to see you again." He didn't let any panic cross his features. Perhaps he could bluff his way out of this situation. 

_Click!_ He watched as a couple guns were cocked and leveled at him. Oh dear…

Bluffing went straight out the window.

Morimita grinned, a twisted expression that didn't do much for his heavily scarred features. Jounouchi felt sick…they were going to much more to him than simply put him out of his misery.

"Hello you little bastard. Miss us? No certainly not, I guess. You've been too busy taking down my boys and sending them to the ER…"

_'Cause they were stupid enough to attack me in the first place…_Jounouchi mused as he kept his attention focused on the leader_…you've always had it in for me since I refused your offer of becoming part of your 'family'._

"…You had talent boy, very impressive talent I must admit. I could have used _you_. But I'm sick of losing my boys to the likes of you…Playtime is over Katsuya."

Morimita glanced over to his second in command, "Restrain him."

The ankh flared to life as the two greasy thugs approached. _Oh GOD, what's happening… screamed Jounouchi mentally as he felt the world around him fade._

He closed his eyes.

The yami opened them.

Red eyes roved over the gang surrounding him, and began to smirk. These thugs were no different than the bandits that had terrorized his land thousands of years ago, and thus should be as easy to kill. His eyes narrowed as he took in the strange metal objects that some of the gang members held. Though he didn't know what they were used for, he did recognize them for the threat they were.

The two that had been assigned to restrain him screeched to an abrupt halt as their victim's face took on a purely psychotic look.

"Boss…what's going on…" one stated.

Morimita never got the chance to reply as wisps of shadows began to collect around him and the other thugs.

"Oh my LORD! Get them off, get them OFF!" screamed another.

The yami only smiled.

Yami's eyes snapped open. There was no mistaking this feeling, someone was using the powers of darkness and had opened a portal to the Shadow Realm. Someone new, and strangely familiar.

_Yami? What's going on!? _Asked his hikari from his soul room, where he'd been suddenly shoved.

_/Trouble. /_

Yami gritted his teeth as he stared out of Yugi's bedroom window. If he stared hard enough, he could almost see the black energies seething across the city.

Meanwhile, on a plane that was heading for Domino, another sensed the dark powers in use and grinned. One more Millennium item had surfaced.

The subdued light in the cabin played across white hair as he considered how to make it his.

"Where are we?"

"The Shadow Realm," a voice hissed. "I'd thought we'd play a little game."

"Game?" Morimita said hesitantly, "what sort of game?" He turned around to see Katsuya casually studying what looked to be a bunch of playing cards.

"Yeah, you were always the gambling man," he peered up from the cards to the ten gang members, all frozen to the spot, and waited. From within the darkness there came a roar. The yami smiled and drew a card; a monster he knew would be more than up to this little task. "See I call this little game Reality. If whatever shows up isn't real, well, I'm at your mercy. But if it is…" a pair of glowing eyes appeared "…you might want to run away _very fast."_

And with that the Red Eyes Black Dragon swooped down and tossed the nearest thug into its waiting jaws.

He disappeared with a wet _crunch, showering everyone with gouts of thick red liquid_

The rest of the group scattered, screaming and snapping off rounds of gunfire, which simply bounced off the dragon's thick scales. Instead it deliberately took its time hunting down and messily killing the threats to its master

However, Morimita and his second in command decided that if they were going to die, they were going to take a certain blonde with them. Crazed with terror, both pulled out switchblades and dove for the yami.

And missed.

Two seconds later, Morimita's buddy wondered where Katsuya's blade had come from, while engaging in the all consuming task of puking his guts out, shocked by the spectacle of his comrade's head falling farther back than it possibly could have, a large red and damp smile crossing his throat.

He didn't have much time to wonder, as a foot was slammed into his windpipe with inhuman speed, crushing it, and a knife was thrust through his heart. There was a last spray of blood and it was all over.

The ambushers were dead.

Ignoring his soiled clothes and the smell of fresh, bloody death all around them, the spirit padded over to his old friend and stroked its head in thanks. The Red Eyes gave a pleased whine and rubbed its head against his shirt, smearing even more blood across the fabric. But then again, he didn't really care. After all, his hikari was the one doing the laundry.

As the dragon tromped back into the darkness, Yami Katsuya pulled himself back to the world of light and calmly picked up the groceries in one bloodstained hand.

"How did I get back here?"

Jounouchi blinked as he suddenly found himself standing in his living room, his groceries at his feet, intact, and not a gangster in sight. A chill ran up his spine. They were going to kill him, after playing with him (he shuddered), yet…he was alive?

"What did you do?" he whispered while absently rubbing his face. He did so _not_ want to deal with this right now.

He halted. His face felt much…stickier than before. Also, little flecks of something were breaking off of the stuff on his face and falling away. The same could be said for his hands. Curious, he held them in front of his face and studied them.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

"_Blood_?! How…Oh no…"

He ran to the bathroom and stared in the mirror and whimpered. He was covered with the stuff. Quickly he turned on the shower and set the water to hot. He had to get it off! Jounouchi grabbed the soap and a washcloth and began to scrub, not caring that his rough actions were tearing into his skin. Not even when the water turned cold as the water from the heater was used up was enough to make him stop his manic cleaning. He could still see the blood staining him, even though the last of it had gone down the drain a long time ago.

Finally, chilled, Jounouchi leaned back against the shower stall wall and sobbed. 


	6. The Things We Cannot Change

I don't own Yu gi Oh. Please put your lawyers away now.

Correction made to a name in this chapter. 

Warnings: Foul language, mature themes, shounen ai (Seto/Jou, mild Honda/Ryuuji…and later Y/Y and B/R [in this chapter or later ones] and maybe M/M…we'll see how well I can grasp their characters), and one more character that starts going off the deep end. 

Events are basically intact until episode 49 of the anime and then it goes all downhill from there.

**The Things We Cannot Change**

The sun peeked over the horizon of Domino, bathing the city in warm beams of light. The solitary figure at the river bridge didn't notice however, too lost in his own internal thoughts. Jounouchi cradled the golden ankh in his hands…so much of the confusion and pain of the few weeks could be attributed to this. It was the key.

He had accidentally picked up one of those bloody Millennium Items.

Fuck.

He groaned. Trouble seemed to follow those things like rabid fangirls after movie stars. Everybody was after them and would do anything to get them. Case in point: that bastard Pegasus and the psychopathic spirit that possessed Ryou time to time. When he thought of the hell they had put Yugi, and to a lesser extent…him, through, he wanted to retch. Nuh-uh, no WAY did he want be in the direct line of fire this time. Gangsters were bad enough; he didn't need overpowered magical creeps after his ass now.

This brought everything around nicely to point number two – the yami. The very _lethal_ yami residing in the item.

He had burnt his clothes from last night. They had been drenched with blood and unrecoverable. And when the inevitable search for the missing men happened, why leave around things that would fingerprint him for the crime, even though he wasn't the one who had _technically committed it. _

_Oh yes officer, I didn't do it. No, not I; my spirit or yami as he likes call himself, killed them in the gory manner. The nutbag and I sorta share a body here and yeah, I guess I had a part in it, since the gang members wanted to **kill me and rape me and stuff I really don't want to think about, but **I** didn't do it…**_

Sheesh, that would go over well.

Jounouchi shivered, and not because of the cold coming up from the water. He had a murderer living underneath his skin…Who would suspect?

_/I didn't have a choice, you know. They were coming at us to kill. 'Sides they were thugs, a waste of air, and a waste of my time. You should be grateful; you're a target for ten less people now. /_

_Couldn't you have at least scared the wits out of them, or just knocked loose a few teeth. Once their families report them missing, the police are going to start looking and we **are** going to be in trouble._

_/Humph…really. They won't be throwing a big celebration? Fools…They should be grateful that that trash is gone. /_

_Grateful?! Do they mean nothing to you at all? For Godsakes, you just killed ten men!_

_/No. /_

Jounouchi seriously doubted the spirit would be remorseful if anyone else who crossed them ended up dead. That was the way of the ancient world, kill or most likely be killed. He scowled; this was most definitely _not the ancient world though. And the yami couldn't just go around killing people anymore._

Something had to stop.

Jounouchi looked down at the ankh, and then drew back his arm.

_/You can't get rid of me that easily, you know…/ _The voice sounded amused. Most likely the spirit was. That would change however. Jounouchi smirked. The spirit would find it very hard to do anything without a body to infest through the item. 

"_Watch_ me."

The ankh flew in a sparkling arc to the water and disappeared under the surface.

Jounouchi turned and walked away…he had school to get to and he didn't want to be late.

Seto Kaiba strode into the classroom; his bored gaze sweeping over all of the room's other insignificant occupants. He _so didn't want to be there. There was a mountain of paperwork waiting for his signature in his office and a new virtual dueling system that was begging to be tested. And of course there were those scheming directors to deal with. He hated to let them out of his sight, he __knew that they were stealing money from him and trying to oust him from his position as CEO every time his back was turned. If it was not for their connections to the business world at large, connections he desperately needed to keep his competitors at bay, he would have fired them all on the spot. _Ah well, better the devil you know…_At least he knew the thought processes of his current directors…it would take too long to learn the ones of new directors, and in that time unspeakable damage could occur, leaving him…vulnerable._

Ah, no use dwelling on that here. Seto decided to turn his mind to other things, like how to spend his time in this purgatory called school.

_So the gang's all here…_Seto smirked. Bothering the little group was always amusing.

Anzu and Honda were quietly chatting about something that had Honda slightly blushing, and had Anzu giving Honda little shoves toward a boy with jade eyes and long dark hair drawn up in a ponytail. He noticed that the embarrassed boy was holding a pair of die, die that matched the dice hanging from the other boy's ear. What neither of them noticed (but Seto did), was another classmate, this one a girl with long purple hair tied back with a yellow ribbon, was grinding her teeth as she stared at Honda. _So Miho is jealous that Honda's affections are now for Ryuuji Otogi. Hmph, I can't say I feel too sorry for her. After all she never indicated anything when he was fawning all over **her.**_

Ryuuji turned and winked at Honda, and Miho looked like she was about to strangle someone. Honda just turned redder as Anzu pushed harder and sent her friend stumbling towards the smiling boy.

Seto chuckled, _well; I can't say I saw that one coming. But then again, he really wasn't in the mood for soap operas so he let his attention wander across the room once more._

Yugi was sitting at his desk, glazed eyes staring at the middle of the blackboard. He seemed to be in the middle of a deep conversation with himself and thus was lost to the rest of the world. No fun there…perhaps later when he finally decided to return to the land of the living.

Well that left only one person…

He spied Jounouchi sitting quietly at his desk, reading something. Seto frowned, _why is he sitting alone? Shouldn't he be socializing with his friends? Shouldn't he be making some noise?! I've never seen the pup this quiet. He __was reading, but then again Jounouchi and books weren't known to be on the friendliest of terms. _

Something was fundamentally different with blonde now, this at least Seto knew. He was quieter, more reclusive…he was prone to staring off at nothingness at times, just like Yugi did. Could being in that coma have caused such a major change in the mutt's personality? 

Somehow he doubted it.

Brown snapped up from the page they had been looking at and fixed themselves on Seto's face. "Don't look so surprised. I _can_ read you know." Jounouchi growled. "What do you want Kaiba?"

Seto smirked and slid into a chair next to him. "I just want to see what could hold your interest so well. Usually you and your friends are making a din that could wake up the dead in the cemetery down the street."

Jounouchi grumbled under his breath and pushed the magazine over to where he could see it. Seto raised both his eyebrows, shocked. Usually Jounouchi would make some sort of token protest before giving in to his demands, like trying to tear off his head or yelling insults until he succeeded in deafening the brunet. This settled it, the blond was acting _weird_. Curious, he looked down and nearly fell off his chair.

"I didn't know you were interested in computers."

"Just putting them together," Jounouchi sheepishly admitted. "I never got the hang of the software programming side of it. Anyway dad kept breaking all our electronics when he was out of it, and it got so expensive I had to learn to fix them myself. Anyway they're fun to play with, and sometimes I can even make them better than they were before…" he trailed off blushing. 

"Perhaps, sometime you could come over to Kaiba Corp. and take a look at some of the robotic systems we have there." Seto said, not really considering what he was saying to someone he _really needed to keep at arms length._

"Yeah, I'd like that…" Jounouchi said dreamily. Suddenly his eyes snapped open with horror. "Wait a minute?! Why are you being so nice?"

Seto stared at Jounouchi in equal horror. "Me nice? Why are _you_ being so friendly to me?!"

The silence stretched awkwardly between them.

_What am I doing? What am I doing? WHAT am I DOING?_ Seto gulped as he studied his hands. It seemed like the mutt wasn't the only one who needed his head thoroughly examined.

And that's when he noticed it.

A scent, very subtle, was rolling off Jounouchi. He probably wouldn't have even noticed it, except for the fact he was a hair away from the other boy. The aroma was sickly sweet, and a bit metallic and it was…

_Blood? What the…_

"Kai-Seto…"

"Yes," blue eyes stared into gold.

"For what you did for me…in the hospital, ya know. Thanks, that meant a lot."

"You're welcome."

Thus ended another day. Jounouchi sighed as he splashed water onto his face. His encounter with Kaiba in the morning had been extremely confusing. He had actually been kind. More to the point, Jounouchi groaned loudly, Jounouchi had actually _enjoyed the company. _God, what's wrong with me?_ How could he do this? Kaiba had sworn to break Yugi one day for the humiliation from that first duel long ago. And that should have made him Public Enemy #1 in his eyes. And for a while Seto had been. But now…now he didn't seem so bad._

_Damn it, I resolved to be polite to him, **not act so…ugh…friendly to him. If I didn't know better, I was kinda **flirting** with him. And he was flirting back! No, no…must not go there, bad thoughts, bad thoughts…Cool it Katsuya, your imagination is running away with you again.**_

He idly reached down to scratch his suddenly itchy neck and froze. There was something there…Jounouchi's face paled to a sickly grey…a leather strap.

"Noooooooo…" he moaned.

He shakily drew the ankh out from underneath his uniform shirt and swore. No, it was back…but he had thrown it in the river, hadn't he? He began to sweat as another thought occurred to him; they had stripped him of all his clothes when they had taken him to the hospital, they should have taken the ankh as well. But when he had woken from his coma the ankh had been with him, hanging around his neck as it had been since he had found it. Was there no escape?

_/Well I **told** you it wouldn't be easy, didn't I? /_

Yami Katsuya peered at him from the mirror.

"Oh SHIT!"

The yami snorted. _/Well, hello to you too. /_

"_How…?"_

A shrug. _/You're my hikari, my reincarnate if you will. Like it or not we're connected. And that's why the ankh keeps coming back. You're a part of me and I am a part of you. Nothing can change that, no matter how much neither of us likes the arrangement. /_

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, "So you're not mad?"

_/I don't care…again, I'm not happy about this either. /_

The ankh glowed suddenly and Jounouchi jumped as a figure began to appear in the room. Katsuya in the flesh looked almost exactly like him, except of course for the eyes.

"I didn't know you could do this…"

"Now you do." He walked over to Jounouchi and stared him in the eye. Jounouchi felt himself shrink back a little under that intense glare. The yami was an intimidating force. But as soon as he began to shrink, a surge of defiance welled up in him, and he began to glare back. Katsuya gave a pleased smile, "Well at least you have courage. I suppose I could have gotten worse." Jounouchi shivered internally, the smile wasn't a warm one.

"So Jounouchi, where do we go from here?"

Ryou was sitting quietly in a corner of a small café he enjoyed to frequent. A glass of 7-Up was resting in hands, half empty. He moaned and thumped his head against the tabletop.

"I _hate jetlag…"_

Soft footfalls coming in his direction caused him to raise his head. Yugi was approaching him. Only the expression on his face was too hard for the innocent boy, and what was he wearing? Leather? The clothing certainly looked like it came from a fetish shop. Oh no…this _wasn't_ Yugi.

Yami scowled down at him.

"Damn it, not now…" groaned Ryou as he felt himself being pulled into his soul room. Yami Bakura growled as Yami loomed over him…the Pharaoh was _so_ in his personal space.

"What do you want Yami?" he said frustrated, shoving the drink away from him and halfway across the table. "I'm not in the mood for one of our…chats."

"Get in the mood. I want to know what happened last night. Why did you open a gate to the Shadow Realm?"

Short and to the point. Bakura doubted he could be blunter. Or more rude. 

"Is that all you want to know about Pharaoh? It wasn't me. Now get out of my face."

Yami smirked, "My, isn't someone touchy today." Bakura narrowed his eyes. Not only was he dealing with the unpleasant effects of jetlag (a horrifying condition he'd thankfully hadn't had to deal with back in Ancient Egypt), but now he had to put up with the annoyance of Yami. By Ra, if someone didn't get this tricolor jackal of his hair soon, a whole lot of people would find themselves blasted to the shadow realm.

His millennium ring began to glow, and briefly a golden eye flickered onto his forehead, and just to add insult to injury, Bakura flipped Yami the bird. Yami clenched his fists, as the puzzle began to respond in kind. The people in the café chatted on, blissfully oblivious to the fact that their world was about to go straight to HELL.

_NO!_

Bakura gave a choked gasp as he was forcibly pulled back into the ring. Seconds later Yami did the same thing as Yugi ripped control from the spirit. Ryou was fighting with all his might for control, and for the moment, he'd won.

"Not here," gasped Ryou as sweat poured down his face. He would lose control again to Bakura any _second_ now.

"Run. We have to get them apart. Before they kill somebody… I'm losing control here…" 

"…Me too…" Yugi looked as badly off he was. The Game King was gaining the upper hand then. 

"Go then!" With a clatter of chairs, Ryou flung himself out to the street and towards anyplace that was currently not within spitting distance of a currently enraged Yami, jetlag all but forgotten.

_Where am I? What is this place?_

_It is **so hot here, in this room of mud brick walls and carvings etched in stone. There are tablets all around me, each with a picture of a creature engraved on it. They look like the Duel Monster cards, but why would such things be in a place like this.**_

_The heat is choking me now._

_There is a scepter in my hand, or maybe a rod of some sort. I raise it and a monster appears before me._

_Blue-Eyes? What are you doing here?_

_Why are any of us here?_

_The man facing me summons another creature that Blue-Eyes promptly blows to dust. He has the strangest eyes; a blue violet lined in kohl that streaks back and then slashes down onto his cheeks. He has the history of the past burnt into his back._

_Why am I fighting you?_

_This world doesn't make sense. It is illogical._

_Madness rules here._

_Movement at my side. There are two men on a dais; one is sitting on a throne, in shadow. But the profile of the hair he sports is familiar still. The other steps forward into the light…_

_Too hot…_

_Jounouchi?_

Seto gasped as he snapped out of the daze he had sunk in while working on the contracts for distribution of Kaiba Corp. merchandise at local game and tech shops. He glanced suspiciously at the cup of steaming tea at his side but then decided poison was too blatant a method of killing someone, at least in the minds of his directors.

"Yukino, I'm leaving now."

"Already sir?! You just got here."

"Yukino…"

"Sorry sir. I will have your driver bring up your limo."

Seto massaged his temples with his fingertips. What a _strange day._

"Why did you stop me Ryou? I _had the Pharaoh there; I could have rid the world of the tri-colored freak for good…"_

"…And done it in front of over twenty people…" Ryou shook his head exasperatedly; really his yami had no clue sometimes. "Did you notice the video cameras? Could you have made our fingerprints vanish into thin air? Yami and you would have made that place a smoking pit. People notice little things like that…" He sighed; he had long found out it was practically impossible to deter Bakura from something once his mind was set, and quite painful too. He had settled instead for damage control, trying to keep the casualties to a minimum.

It was not working real well so far.

"Who cares what people saw! They're like mindless cattle; they'd dismiss anything their little minds can't comprehend as harmless nonsense." Bakura roared, towering over Ryou. He flinched and braced himself. What was to come probably wouldn't be fun.

"And you know video cameras don't record anything when Shadow powers are in use, so don't give me that bull shit!"

"But you would have killed so many in the process," Ryou whispered, eyes turned to the ground. _And despite what you say, we would have been caught…And God help me, I have to keep you…safe. No matter what it costs me. I'd kill for you Bakura…and you **know it.**_

Bakura smiled suddenly, and his strong fingers cupped Ryou's face gently, lifting it to meet his eyes. "You worry too much Ryou. I'll be fine. 'Sides getting rid of Yami is worth a little risk. I told you what he did to me and the other five at the…end. I _owe_ him for that…"

With that he leaned in and captured his hikari's lips in a kiss. It was feather light at first, but little by little he and Ryou deepened it, until it seemed they were melting together. Neither of them noticed the single tear that slipped down Ryou's cheek, and fell to land on the Change of Hearts card gripped securely in his hand.

Sterile. That was the only word that could describe the rehab center where his father had been placed, Jounouchi mused. Cold white walls seemed to crowd around him, while the scent of the chemicals used to clean this place stung at the inside of his nose slightly. Yet even the sharp smell of bleach couldn't cover the underlying aromas of blood and urine. He promptly decided that this was a twisted version of hell. Complete with the sobs and moans of the suffering to go with it.

He was sitting with one of the damned now.

"Dad…you doing well? Are any of the docs hassling you or something?"

"I'm…okay. They're starting me on therapy soon. But they say…" The man began to sob, tears leaking down his salt encrusted face. The years had seemed to pile upon him, and lying in that bed, looking up at his son, he seemed like an ancient. And he was just as weary. Weary of the fight. Wanting it all to end. To be finished.

"What do they say Dad?" Jounouchi gently pressured, not wanting to hear the answer, but needing to all the same.

"They say I'll never be cured. I'll be like this all my life. The crave…the _crave _won't stop!" He tugged fitfully at the restraints keeping his wrists immobile. The docs had told Jounouchi it was for his own safety. He had had violent fits during his withdrawal, hurting himself. It hurt looking at him now, the shell of a vibrant man he'd once known. In a way, his father was dead. The alcohol had taken most of his mind with it.

"Oh dad…" Jounouchi couldn't bear to say he'd be alright in the end; to sugarcoat things would be cruel. All he could do was to be strong for the both of them.

"Jounouchi, could you do a favor for me. One last favor for your father…" There came a shine to his father's eyes that sickened Jounouchi to the core. Such desire, such wanting…there was only one thing that he would ask.

"What is it dad?" he desperately tried to sound neutral.

"One last beer, that's all I ask. I need it _so badly."_

"You know I can't do that dad…"

"_Please_! It hurts so much. Please help me deaden the pain…" Jounouchi almost sobbed there. His father reduced to begging…for a drink of all things. He couldn't stand it. His father, his proud father…there was only one thing he could to help. And it would kill him.

He stood up and left the room.

"Jounouchi! JOUNOUCHI! Come back, for the love of God COME BACK! JOUNOUCHI…"

"I love you dad…" he whispered as he staggered down the hallway.


	7. Purge

You've got the wrong manga artist! I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Any belief to the contrary is flattering but untrue.

First I must apologize for my tardiness. A bout of writers' block and real life got in the way. And I admit, this was a difficult chapter to write, for it dredged up some unpleasant memories of my own. Warnings: angst, shounen ai (S/J, H/Ryuuji, B/R, Y/YY, M/M others), profanity, reference to child abuse. 

Clarifications: both Yugi's parents are dead in this fic. Also all decks the characters use will be their Battle City ones, well sans the ante monsters except for a few special cases (I haven't decided about the Battle City rules yet). Chapter 179 is referenced here, and will be the focus of an upcoming fic. Thanks **Jenniyah!**

 **Purge__**

_Knock, knock._

The summons to the door was answered with a loud thump, the clatter of objects falling, and a stream of curses that would make even a hardened sailor blush. However, that did not change the fact that there was someone at the door, and that someone had to answer it, namely Jounouchi. 

Just as soon as he untangled himself from the blankets that were attempting to choke the life out of him…easy…right?

The blankets seemed to have the opposite opinion on the matter.

Finally freed and decidedly rumpled, Jounouchi stormed towards the apartment door. As he passed a cracked mirror (caused by an errant beer bottle during one of his father's more violent drunken fits), he raked one hand through his hair, trying to get the unruly mass into some semblance of normality. _My god I look awful._ The skin under his eyes had turned blue-black and the rest of it had acquired a grayish undertone. He yawned, and blinked blearily. Why did the person _have to be calling now? If it was a salesman, or another blasted religious person pushing pamphlets at him; what control over his temper he had managed to keep over the last few days was going to rapidly disappear._

_Bang! Bang!_

"I'm coming. I'm coming!" he whined and clutched his head. Whoever it was was going to wake up the dead. And Jounouchi doubted Katsuya was a morning person…err, spirit.

However, when he yanked open the door, he sighed in relief. Staring at him quizzically was Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou.

The old man _looked_ Jounouchi up and down several times, and then finally dryly asked "Have I come at a bad time?"

He blinked, and looked down himself.

"Erg!"

He was clad only in a simple white tank top, and dark blue boxer shorts with white stenciled rabbits. _Nothing_ else.

"Come in," he yelled as he made a dash for his room, thankful it had been only Yugi's grandfather at the door. If it had been _anyone else, he wouldn't have heard the end of it. Hopefully the subject of him and his boxers wouldn't come up at the Mutou dinner table tonight._

"Pants, pants, where are those pants…" 

Finally locating a pair of jeans that looked reasonably clean, Jounouchi yanked them on, and on further consideration replaced his white tank top for a black one. Feeling slightly less embarrassed, he trudged out to meet his guest. Said guest was already helping himself to coffee freshly brewed from the coffee maker. Jounouchi's stomach growled slightly…the beast hadn't been fed recently and was now making its displeasure known. _Quiet you…I'll take care of the food problem in a minute. Making an inconspicuous beeline for the fridge, he called out to Sugoroku, "So what brings you by Gramps?" _

"Oh just checking up on you….you've had so much happen to you lately, it's impossible not to worry." 

_You don't know the half of it Gramps._ Jounouchi inwardly sighed as he searched the fridge for the rice balls he'd made the night before. Outwardly however he pasted on a grin that he'd perfected over the years when he'd not wanted anybody to have a clue what was going on in his head. "I'm fine, just fine."

"Bullshit." The elderly man said evenly, while reaching for the coffee he set aside. "I can see through that mask you put on. You're falling apart, the physical signs are obvious. Check a mirror; you'll see what I mean."

"No need. I already have." Jounouchi chuckled bitterly. "All I really want to do right now is sleep. I'm so tired…" He began to nibble on the rice ball, and thoughtfully studied Sugoroku. _I don't remember the last time I slept well._

"How's your father?"

"Not good," he admitted. "The alcohol had eaten at his mind and his health till there'd been virtually nothing left. He's really just a shell now." Jounouchi said quietly. "They told me that the detox went badly. He went into shock and was seizuring a couple times. He still hallucinates sometimes. But the worst thing is the damage the booze did to his liver and kidneys. They're shot. I don't think he's coming out of that institution. He's gone now, if not physically, at least mentally."

Sugoroku looked at a loss for words. But what could he say, Jounouchi mused. Nothing he could say would make the reality of the situation go away. Words couldn't replace the man he lost.

"Ya know, when I was a kid, real young, you wouldn't believe the type of man he was. Energetic as hell, he'd always be doing something, getting into the thick of things. God, some of the _pranks he used to pull on the cops…damn we thought he was going to be thrown away for good. But they never caught him. I thought he was invincible."_

Jounouchi snorted. "I was wrong."

"Then the arguments started. Mom wanted to get a job, she felt trapped in the apartment. Dad was against it, he thought she should stay and take care of the home. After all, he said, even though I don't believe it, it's what a woman should do. Also, I don't know, something had gone bad; maybe Dad had gone too far in a joke or at work. They continued to fight and Mom acted more and more like she was locked in a cage. She used to pace back and forth, back and forth, gnashing her teeth and snarling at anyone who got close. As for Dad, he began to shut himself off, growing more and more cold. Think he was afraid of losing her. But the more he tightened his control over the household, the more she slipped away and became wild, like sand tricking through his fingers."

Jounouchi stopped and took a deep breath, ignoring the stricken wide-eyed look he was receiving.

"And then time ran out."

"Nobody knows how it happened. The apartment building just, _whoosh, went up in flames. Nobody was hurt, God no, but nearly everything was destroyed. Mom was shrieking, and Dad was watching our home go up in flames, a funny expression on his face. He stank, literally stank, Gramps. Oh no, I didn't know what it was then, but that smell would become familiar, oh yes, _very_ familiar as time went by; that, and flying beer bottles, glazed eyes, violent fits, and mornings after. The papers were soon signed up and Shizuka and I were torn apart and here I am." Jounouchi's voice became a whisper. "Here I am."_

Jounouchi traced a finger across the scarred surface of the tabletop, "I miss him. Now all of them are gone."

"Jounouchi…" Sugoroku faltered and tried again, "Jou…there's nothing you could have done. He chose his own path in life…"

"I know," Jounouchi spat out bitterly, "But I can't help thinking that if I'd done something different, hid his beer or something, I could have saved him…" _Could have saved them from being murdered. There's blood on my hands…_ "I should have done _something."_

"And what would you have accomplished?" the old man asked quietly.

"Nothing. Probably nothing."

And one by one, the rain of tears began to fall until it became a torrent. Sugoroku took Jounouchi's hand and held it like he would do for a grandchild, for Jounouchi _was_ a grandson, not by blood but by spirit. He held it and waited. Waited for Jounouchi to finally let out the pain.

Yugi sighed behind the counter of the Game Shop. It was a slow day, make that very slow as only a few teenagers had dropped in to browse through the new cards that the store was featuring. Honestly he was getting bored. What he wouldn't do for a little excitement right about now. But nooooo, Grandpa had to go run an errand for something (he wouldn't say what it was) and had forced Yugi to play shop keeper while he was gone. To make matters worse, Yami was brooding in his soul room and wouldn't come out. The only explanation he would give was that he was trying to figure out why the portal to the Shadow Realm was opened two days ago. But Yugi knew better. Yami was sulking because he didn't get to hand Yami Bakura's ass back to him yet again. Yugi sighed for his nth time that day. Sometimes the Game King could get _so temperamental. _

The soft tinkling of chimes drew his attention to the door and he quickly pasted on his best please-buy-something-anything-from-me grin. The grin quickly became a lot more genuine when he realized who it was.

Honda.

"Hi Honda," Yugi greeted politely, "Come to give me a little company?"

Honda blinked, "You're here on your own?"

Yugi laughed lightly, "Yeah, Grandpa had to run an errand. Don't know what it was, but he was pretty closed mouth about it. He's been gone a while too; I wonder what he's up to."

"Must be important, whatever it was…" His voice turned shy, "Hey Yugi…"

"Yes…" Yugi stared at Honda and was surprised to see the other boy on the verge of bolting. He looked embarrassed, maybe even…frightened? And very hopeful. _What's eating him? Last time I saw him like this, he was drooling over…_The pieces suddenly clicked into place, and Yugi slowly smirked.

"So Honda, who's the lucky girl?"

Honda quietly coughed while turning an interesting shade of red, "It's not a girl…"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard."

Blink. Blink. "You're _gay_?!"__

"NO!" a bit quieter, "I'm bi."

Brain overload. Commence shut down. Restart.

"Oh…okay then, who's the lucky guy?"

"Ryuuji…" Sigh, blush. The corners of Honda's lips turned upward into a lovesick smile and the air around him seemed to sparkle. Yugi silently groaned. _He's doing it again, that scary schoolgirl thing. I swear, every time…_

But before the weepy violins could start playing, Honda made tracks towards the back of the shop where the puzzles were kept and began frantically searching…for…something anyway. Yugi felt his stomach sink. This felt…familiar.

"Yugi, do you have any of those blank puzzles left?"

Definitely familiar.

"Yeah, one…Oh no, are you thinking…?"

"Yeah Yugi," Honda grinned, "It'll work this time. Ryuuji will love this. I mean he loves games and this will be so _romantic." A cold sweat began to run down Yugi's back. Whenever Honda and romance mixed, disaster almost always followed._

"I hope it doesn't backfire this time…" _Ms. Chono nearly expelled Jounouchi, myself and you when you sent Miho that love note written on the puzzle. If Yami hadn't interfered, well the Wicked Witch of Expel would have claimed three more victims. Mr. Romance seems to have forgotten that however…_

"Trust me Yugi. Didn't your Grandfather say he hooked your Grandma with this baby? If it worked for him, it'll work for me." Yugi considered, after all, puzzles _did_ tend to bring together people in his experience, in more ways than one…

"Well, at least Ms. Chono is good and gone. I hope you have better luck this time."

"Yeah. Say, Yugi…"

"No. This time write the love letter by yourself."

Sugoroku cursed to himself. Lugging around dead weight wasn't as easy as it had been during his prime. In those days he usually hauled three or four bodies back from whatever tavern they'd been frequenting to the hotel de jour. _And after all I did for them; the bastards shot me in the back._ But his treasure hunting days (or tomb robbing days as the Egyptian natives would say) had long since passed, leaving only a puzzle bequeathed to his grandson and a scar marring his shoulder blades as the only mementoes left of that time. _Strange days they were too. He had discovered while there he had quite the talent for reading hieroglyphics, though he had never run across the language before in his life._

But fortunately for Jounouchi, Sugoroku still remembered a thing or two about carrying taller and heavier people about without breaking his back. Well, more like dragged than carried but in the end the results were all that mattered…right? 

"God, I have to go to the gym."

Hoisting the boy onto the bed proved to be a more difficult task. Jounouchi was slim, yes, but that was deceptive considering that all of his body was finely toned muscle. In other words, way heavier than he looked. But at last the job was finished and Sugoroku leaned back and groaned. He had knocked his back out of joint again.

But that was not the only thing to consider.

While lifting him onto the bed, Jounouchi's shirt had twisted and ridden up on his torso, revealing things that only confirmed Sugoroku's suspicions on a variety of matters. Scars littered the chest and back: some fresh judging by the fiery pink color they had, others white and thin, ancient, hinting at a lifetime of pain. _So he actually did…What Jounouchi had hinted at was true then. __But why didn't he fight back? It was difficult to say… Jounouchi was strong, Sugoroku knew this, and he also had the reputation of being a great fighter, able to take on opponents stronger, heavier, and taller then he was and still come on top. He could hold his own most likely against his father. Most likely it was family loyalty; Jounouchi might have seen the shadow of the man he used to be in the drunken wreck that replaced his father and had been unable to strike back when the alcohol brought with it the fits of violence. And Jounouchi's father was the last shred of family that Jounouchi himself possessed._

Sugoroku could certainly understand the desire to hold onto any remaining family, abusive or not. Being alone was soul shredding, devastating. He had certainly experienced enough pain after losing his son and daughter in law, he could emphasize with what Jounouchi was feeling right now.

But to confront him about it…he didn't know if that was the best course of action at this point. It could stir up things neither of them was willing…or able, to handle.

Sighing he put his hands in his pockets and felt one of the reasons why he had come. Pulling the three cards out of his pocket, he smiled. He had selected them as a house warming present and he knew his former student would be greatly cheered to find them when he woke. Speaking of which…he checked Jounouchi over quickly. Just asleep, no coma.

One couldn't be too careful.

Quietly he placed Psycho Shocker, Swords of Revealing Light, and Monster Reborn next to Jounouchi's deck on the bedside table. Then he slipped out of the apartment, but not before one last thought crossed his mind.

_I wonder, when did Jounouchi get into wearing Egyptian jewelry anyway?_

Yugi watched as his Grandpa quietly shut the back door behind him. The old man's face was subdued and it seemed like he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. Worst of all his violet eyes had lost the sparkle that defined the man. They were dull, empty.

Soulless…

Yugi shuddered. He'd hoped to never see his grandfather's eyes like that again.

He was pulled into a shuddering embrace. Yugi tensed, something was seriously wrong. His grandpa was holding him as he if he would disappear into thin air if he'd let go.

"Grandpa," Yugi carefully began, "are you alright? Did something…happen?"

A heavy sigh, "Yes. I found out something I didn't want to." Something was filling those eyes now. Sorrow? Guilt? Yugi wasn't sure exactly what the emotion was.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"No…I'd rather not." There was such quiet authority in his voice that Yugi didn't even think of asking again. He felt confused. His grandfather was not one to keep things bottled up inside.

"Could you make dinner Yugi?" Sugoroku said softly.

Yugi quietly nodded and padded into the kitchen to do as his grandfather requested. He didn't see Sugoroku collapse behind him into a chair and bury his head in his hands.

Seto sighed as he leaned back into the comforting fabric of the couch and placed his copy of 'The Economist' on the table. It was raining out, the sound of raindrops hitting the mansion's tiled roof softly filling the living room where Mokuba and himself were currently residing. Mokuba was curled up on the floor, nose buried in a book. Every so often he'd crinkle his nose as he read certain passages from it.

_"I can't read." The blond guardsman says respectfully and a bit bashfully, head bowed in proper submissiveness to me, as befits someone of lower rank to someone of status. He holds a sheet of papyrus with hieroglyphics scrawled upon it. I can read them easily, though I do not know how. They tell how to summon shadows, a game of some sort._

_How can anyone summon games of shadows? More to the point, why would anyone **want to?**_

_The room around us crackles with hidden power, like raw electricity. And not only has the room done this. Power arcs in unseen waves off the kneeling guard in front of me, and, I can sense, off me as well. Though my energies are controlled and focused and his are not._

_"Rise" I say._

_He does so._

_Jounouchi._

_I sniff. He smells of blood. It is not surprising; his clothes have little splotches of it drying upon it. _

_He has been in a fight._

_"Captain…I see you have been busy today…" I enquire. I **do** want to know where the blood came from._

_"Riot, my lord; among the slaves. My men and I had to deal with it."_

_The way he said 'deal with it' makes me shiver. I know that tone too well from my dealings in business. However there is something in that posture that speaks of regret. Jounouchi is not happy with what he had to do. And if I had done what he had done in this deranged fantasy, I don't think I would be either._

_"I see."_

_This is one fucked up dream. Here we are, discussing the mass slaughter of people, and **neither of us seems to care. Well, Jounouchi cares, but he's trying not to, trying to see the people he killed as cattle, not people, and not really succeeding and I just…I don't want to know how **many** there were…the slight queasiness in my stomach gets worse as I try to give these people faces.**_

_It slowly dawns on me that the person speaking with my voice and whose eyes I'm seeing through isn't me._

_And this isn't Jounouchi. Jounouchi doesn't have red eyes._

_What's going on?_

Seto blinked as thunder crashed outside, snapping out of the light trance like state he had fallen into._ Again, it's happening again_. Spots danced at the edge of his vision. _Why is this happening? Have I been working too hard? Running a company, attending school, and raising a younger brother was _extremely_ time consuming. Time to himself was rare._

_Tomorrow is Sunday, perhaps…_

Perhaps he would test out his new duel disk system. Dueling, even if was for the sake of furthering his company's success, was freeing in ways nothing else he had experienced could match. He paused and smiled predatorily. Yes, he hadn't had a good match in a while and he ached for a challenge. His new automated dueling robot should be up to the task.

_But I don't really **want to duel against a machine. True, with the settings at maximum, it would be a challenge, but what's the fun in that?  **_

What was truly required for the duel to be interesting was a human element. A machine didn't show emotions, didn't have emotions, and seeing them run across an opposing duelist's face during the game, seeing the dawn of realization of their chances of winning against him, was just as sweet as the actual mental challenge needed to win. Course there was only a few duelists that could even come close to his caliber of skill, and only one…

He clenched his fist. One day he would crush Yugi Mutou for that first duel. Crush him completely, totally. And next time he would do it fairly, no ledges, so the boy could give no excuse for his failure.

Pride and honor demanded no less.

He winced then. Thoughts of Yugi invariably lead to thoughts of Jounouchi Katsuya. The blonde would _not_ get out of his head. He was there everywhere he went; in the office, his car on the way to work or school, school of course, his house…even in his bedroom, at times, he could sense his presence …And now he was having freaky visions that involved someone who looked an _awful_ lot like Jounouchi. 

Jounouchi Katsuya was haunting him. It was driving him up the wall.

What was he to him anyway?

The mutt, trash duelist, pup, and loser, all the names that he had given him, came to him at first. At Duelist Kingdom, after how badly Jounouchi lost, he hadn't even been worth considering as a worthy opponent. Certainly, if Seto had ever decided to hold a tournament of his own, Katsuya wouldn't even have been on the list of invitees. But then he had done some checking on the Duelist Kingdom tournament, about how Jounouchi had dueled. Certainly, yes, even though he had won, his first duels were awful, Jounouchi only scraping by the skin of his teeth. But he had also seen tremendous jumps in skill level between duels, as the records had shown. The Jounouchi who had dueled both Bandit Keith and Yugi, based on the duels themselves, would be considered a legitimate threat, not to himself, but to most experienced and highly skilled duelists. That and based on the time frame from which he had learned the game and trained under Sugoroku Mutou to the present, made Jounouchi seem a lot more impressive.

Certainly with more experience, he could become a real presence in the dueling world. Not enough to beat him though.  

As a person he certainly was likable, Seto supposed. Friendly, loyal, compassionate, dependable, and forgiving. He was even opening up to him of all people. Though, he supposed, it was simply him showing his gratitude for him staying with him at the hospital (why had he done that again?). Their natures were very different.

And their backgrounds were very similar. Yin and Yang. Black and white dragons.

And now the mutt was growing quieter, withdrawing from social contact. Seto had seen major personality swings from Jounouchi's usual behavior, and now he _knew_, just knew, that it wasn't caused by that blasted coma. But what was the cause, he didn't know.

In any matter, Seto knew, he had to exorcise Jounouchi from his mind.

Perhaps another duel was in order. Dueling styles were just as dependant on personality as they were on skill. Seeing exactly how much Jounouchi had changed as well as defeating him once again, would hopefully drive the blond from his consideration. He would kill many birds with one stone here. And maybe then the visions would stop.

He had invited Jounouchi to Kaiba Corp. yesterday and he hadn't really given a definitive answer. It was time to force the issue.

**Alowl, **you** want**** a confrontation between Yami and Katsuya, huh? It's coming, trust me on this; it will be well worth the wait. ~grins secretively~ ****Jou-pup, I'll try to have some links to concept artwork of Y. Katsuya (and others)  in the next few chapters for you and anyone else who wants it. I know Katsuya loves the compliments. I haven't been able to get him to quit preening after you said that. **Taito-Kisses** you needn't worry, Jou's tough, he'll get through. 'Sides he will have help. ~winkwinknudgenudge~ **Kakarots-Frying-Pan** I'm sooooooo happy you like them ~tackleglomp~ I endeavor to continue! And yes it was a sad chapter. There'll be a few more like that ~bites her tongue to keep from spoiling the entire thing~ in this looking to be monstrously large story. At least for me anyway. **Lady Geuna**, it is Malik, you're right. Though he isn't a priest, but the Pharaoh's Grand Vizier (whose rank is on par with the High Priest's)! Thank god, I've actually seen him in action now…He'll be coming in later. And yes, I'm glad you think he's creepy. I was aiming for that, for an unnerving quality. Thank you! **Blue Lagoon Loon**, he is rather feisty, isn't he? I don't feel too bad about what I did to Jou's dad myself, considering what was implied in the manga about him made me want to strangle him. **Chiron** thanks for the email (sorry I lost your address so I'll answer here). Oh you're sharp. Kudos to you for noticing the difference between Jou's and Seto's visions and what it actually means. And yes that door I kept talking about in the first chapters will be explained.__**


	8. Because you are you

I LIVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEE!

Kinda.

Somebody tell my boss to stop scheduling me on graveyard and then having me open and do evenings in no particular order, six days a week. I'm having enough trouble sleeping, let alone actually writing something _decent. However, I plan to make up for it by having an extra large chapter and concept art for Obeah for you guys for putting you through a two month wait. Sorry about that._

Now let's get on with the fic, shall we.

**Official Disclaimer:** I don't own it. Enough said.

**Warnings:** Profanity, **_lime_**, Yaoi (S/J, B/R, H/O, future YY/Y and M/M), symbolism and metaphor, and some definitely disturbing stuff.

**Because you are you**

"Mmmmmm…." So warm here, in the darkness, so peaceful. Jounouchi growled as he felt the tug that would bring him back to the world of consciousness and harsh light and fought it back. He wanted to keep sleeping; there was no pain here only rest. He wanted to stay.

Someone shook his shoulders none too gently. That someone was soon to be dead. Jounouchi aimed a punch in the direction he thought his tormentor was and was satisfied to hear a yelp and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. With a satisfied "Hmph" he turned and buried his head in his pillows. 

And, as an afterthought, he snarled "I wanna sleep here. Go away!"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Jounouchi Katsuya, morning person extraordinaire. 

The person, at this point had been cursing in a strange language, began laughing sadistically and padded off to the kitchen, where the sound of running water could be heard. At least Jounouchi _hoped it was the kitchen the intruder was invading._

In all respect, he really should have been prepared for what happened next.

He suddenly felt like he had dived into the Arctic Ocean.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!"

"God that's COLD!" Jounouchi leaped headfirst out of bed, soaking wet and thoroughly chilled, towards Yami Katsuya, who was practically rolling on the floor from laughter. Katsuya easily dodged which sent Jounouchi crashing to the floor.

"Well good morning to you too Sunshine," he teased, "how are we today?"

"I'm _so_ going to kill you," Jounouchi growled.

"Can't. I'm already dead."

"I'll find a way…trust me." Jounouchi then peered around his yami into the kitchen. What he saw made his blood run cold. He began to shake uncontrollably.

"How much of that did you drink?!"

"Just a pot."

"A _pot_?!" Jounouchi's mind began running around in circles screaming _not-good-not-good-not-good-not…_

He desperately hoped that the answer to the equation of Katsuya plus caffeine high wasn't world destruction. Who knew _what he would do in this state? The body count today would undoubtedly be high._

And a small corner of Jounouchi's logical mind whimpered that there wasn't any left for him. No fair!

With all thoughts of coffee deprivation shoved aside, Jounouchi staggered to the bathroom in hopes of a nice hot shower and prayed that when he got out, Katsuya would calm down a little.

_Bang!_

Okay, maybe not.

How long could a coffee high of that magnitude last anyways?

_Clang! CRUNCH! **BOOM!**_

Jounouchi whimpered.

Katsuya shrugged as he stared at the charred remains of the appliance. Metal and microwaves didn't mix apparently. Obviously there were a few holes in his knowledge that he'd managed to gleam from observing his host's day to day life and browsing through his memories. Speaking of said hikari…Jounouchi would throw a fit when he saw this. Then again, he really didn't give a damn what his hikari thought anyway…so everything was cool. It wasn't if Jounouchi couldn't fix the blown fuse.

He bounced (since bouncing around seemed oddly appropriate to do) over to the fridge and snagged some leftover yakisoba and chopsticks and dug in. The food was…alright…strange to Katsuya's taste buds…but perfectly edible. What he wouldn't do for some plump dates though. They had always been a personal favorite of his since he was a child.

The sounds of water running in the bathroom stopped and the sounds of a hairdryer began. And underlying those sounds was Jounouchi's muttered cursing. His eyes turned to the newspaper lying on the table; given to him by the child dropping them door to door (The child had looked shaken after handing him the paper, Katsuya wondered. All he had done was smile at the kid.). The headlines screamed "**Ten Missing in Domino. Foul Play Suspected.**" Katsuya frowned thoughtfully. They were making a _really_ big deal about it in his opinion. Why would they care about the disappearance of some blood-thirsty thugs? Drawing on Jounouchi's knowledge, he had gained the ability to read and write the language of the land where his host was. This was…troubling. Though he didn't think there was any evidence around that could incriminate Jounouchi (the killings, after all had taken place in the shadow realm, and he had taken pains not to be seen heading back to the apartment afterwards) And it would be doubtful that the gang members would have spoken to others about going after Jounouchi; they had, after all, had been planning to kill him, and wouldn't want anything to incriminate _them_. But what if one slipped up somehow…

Katsuya took the paper and carefully put it away in a cupboard. He would show it to his hikari …later. 

Jounouchi didn't need to be troubled by it right now.

He was going to hit the roof anyways.

As if on cue, a nervous Jounouchi poked his head around the kitchen door and immediately fixed his gaze on what remained of his microwave.

Three…

Two…

One…

"OH **SHIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT**!"

Now was a good time to duck and run for cover.

"Interesting…" Bakura smirked, "very interesting. Ten men gone without a trace and no one has any clue as to why. Last seen on the day Yami and I sensed the Shadow powers at work. This can't be a coincidence. The two events are linked and I suspect the Pharaoh will put it together as soon as he sees this newspaper." Bakura stretched and watched his hikari quietly nibble the small bowl of rice in front of him and down endless cups of strong tea and smirked. The reshaping of his hikari was going nicely, if he did say so himself. Ryou was such a _weak_ mewling creature beforehand; indeed it had taken months to accept this boy was, indeed, his incarnate, but as a master smith tempers steel, he was forging this boy into a being that could be ruthless enough to survive in this world, and, as a bonus, be a tool he could use at whim.

And use him he would.

The potential had been there at the beginning; the promise of strength in untested muscle, intelligence and quick wit, and most importantly of all, untapped seeds of anger and hatred borne of persecution by those stronger than he was. Ryou scrunched his nose as he stole a quick peak at the paper but did not say a word. Instead he went back to picking at his rice. Bakura took a moment to study the slender form in front of him. _Pretty…very pretty. **All** mine, pretty, and you know it too. His fingers snaked underneath the table and began possessively stroking Ryou's thigh. Hooded eyes rose to meet his, and Bakura knew he saw the spark of the same possessiveness dance in those eyes as well. He had molded Ryou, not broken him. Someone who would blindly follow him and mindlessly obey his every whim would get boring after a while. Ryou's assertiveness had increased under Bakura's 'tutelage' and Bakura found he rather enjoyed this new side of Ryou._

In moderation.

Ryou's breath hitched. Bakura's hand had traveled higher…

Bakura smirked. Ryou glared, but that quickly subsided as an equally lustful expression replaced the slight irritation over having breakfast interrupted. A low purr escaped the boy's throat.

All thoughts of breakfast were forgotten.

A few seconds later the rice went flying as Bakura pounced.

Jounouchi slipped on a pair of sunglasses as he exited the appliance store into blinding light and crushing pedestrian traffic. 

"AH!" 

A mother with a baby stroller nearly broadsided him. He yelped and threw himself to the side, only to have a herd of giggling schoolgirls come at him head on. Jounouchi blanched and with all his speed and agility swerved out of the way. However moving in the crowd was difficult, and more often than not, to avoid being stampeded on, he found himself herded towards the downtown section of Domino. 

"Arg! Bastard! Watch where you put your fucking feet!"

Jounouchi's only response was to flip off the man whose foot he had slightly stepped on before brushing past. Normally he would apologize, but since the man was so rude about the whole incident, he could rot in hell for all he cared.

Suddenly a shadow blocked all light from the street. Jounouchi looked up and gasped. Looming above him was the Kaiba Corp skyscraper, a concoction of steel, glass, and concrete that easily dwarfed anything else that Domino had to offer. He felt a chill as he stared at the region where he thought Kaiba's office was.

It was almost like he was being watched.

_Who's there?_

_/To our right. /_

Jounouchi peered out of the corner of his eye in the direction his yami had indicated. Nothing…just normal, boring, pedestrians doing their normal, boring, business…

Wait a sec.

There was a man with a paper on a bench – _staring at him. Your ordinary suit, considering if normal meant accessorizing with earpiece, tiny microphone that fit on your collar, and God knew how many other high tech goodies. Jounouchi's sharp eyes noticed a bulge in the impeccably arranged suit._

So he was packing.

Jounouchi began to sweat.

_I don't like this…no, no, no…time to go now…_He nonchalantly turned around, trying to keep calm and began slowly walking in the opposite direction. 

Towards Kaiba Corp.

_/Ah…Jounouchi…what are you **doing**? /_

_Getting away from that creep!_

_/Ya know…that Seto Kaiba of yours employs security guards. He's probably just doing his job watching you…protecting Kaiba's high tech toys and all. So **chill and walk in the other direction…you're drawing ****way too much notice to yourself right now. /**_

_ His job isn't to just watch me and ignore everyone else._ Jounouchi snorted as he angled his path to take himself to an arcade that lay in Kaiba Corp.'s shadow. _But you're right…_Much as he hated to admit it, walking towards Seto's little sanctuary was a very,_ very_, stupid_ thing to do. Of course he was going to be watched; they watched _everyone _who even approached the skyscraper. Why should he be different?_

He had freaked pure and simple. But why, he didn't know…Not too long ago he could have strolled past that building, with all its guards, fingered them all and not even flinched. Now if someone even looked at him wrong he broke out into a cold sweat.

_But why?_

A newspaper lying on a bench riveted his attention as he passed, or more particularly, its headlines. Jounouchi froze.

_Oh yeah, how could I forget._

Enter one frustrated mental sigh from Katsuya. This was heading into an all too familiar conversation. _/ Get over it Jounouchi. It's done. It's over. They're DEAD! Move on and stop moping. Don't forget, they wanted to **kill you! /**_

_Oh yeeesss, I know, I know…_ Jounouchi hissed back._ Unfortunately I still have a little problem with my conscience. See it keeps telling me that slaughtering people like cattle and then laughing about it is wrong. Unlike you, I haven't managed to slay it yet._

_/ And now you freak out at the littlest things. Not everyone's out to get you. But that's not what's driving you crazy, is it? You're not afraid of a fight, and I hate to admit it, you can take care of yourself. /_

_/Ah…yes…of course; you're afraid the other person or people will come out of it dead. /_

Jounouchi trembled.

_/ The truth sucks, doesn't it. I won't lie…I'll do what needs to be done. If it makes you feel any better, I'll kill whoever threatens us quickly and painlessly. I promise. But if they don't show any mercy, I won't either. /_

He sank to the bench, all strength draining out of his limbs. He quietly removed his sunglasses and replaced them in his pocket.

_/ Tell me you wouldn't do any different if it was Yugi in danger…or dear Anzu…or Honda…or **Seto. If it came to it, you would kill to protect them, wouldn't you? /**_

A defeated sigh. 

_Yes…_

He was going to be sick.

_/ They are dead. You are alive. So live. /_

The expression on Seto's face matched that of a cat that got the whole fucking aviary and a handful of mice to boot. He carefully sipped his tea and peered into the grid of monitors that lined one wall of his office. The image displayed in one held his particular attention; a blond slumped on a bench outside his building, a troubled grimace marring his handsome features.

"Ah Jounouchi, what are _you_ doing here?" He smirked. Of all the luck…Well this saved him the trouble of tracking the pup down himself.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his flunky shift on another bench not too far away as he tried to remain inconspicuous to the general public. It wasn't working however. Jounouchi had obviously noticed Takei and kept stealing little glances at him when he knew the guard wasn't paying attention to him.

So he knew he was being watched.

Intriguing.

This would make things a tad easier.

"Takei!" Seto snapped into the communicator pinned onto his trench lapel.

There was the faint crackle of static and then a questioning "Sir?" came through.

"There is a blond teenager sitting a few meters away from you. His name is Jounouchi Katsuya. I want you to bring him to me as we have a little matter to discuss. Do try to be diplomatic here; the last thing I want is for him to be in one of his disagreeable moods when I see him." The unspoken threat hung between them and the last thing Takei wanted was _Kaiba in one of those disagreeable moods._

"Y-yes sir." The transmission shut off with an audible click.

Seto unconsciously licked his lips and watched as Takei rose off the bench and Jounouchi stiffened slightly, then rose himself and settled in what could only be a fighting stance. The blond's instincts were quite good, he had to admit. Jounouchi _knew_ something was up.

He turned towards and stared where the surveillance camera was hidden. Gold eyes narrowed. Then Jounouchi whirled to face the slowly approaching Takei who immediately stopped and raised both hands.

Oh yes, he _knew_…

Jounouchi cocked his head to the side as he listened, and curtly nodded once. Takei slumped visibly in relief. As Jounouchi turned to face the camera, though it must have been a trick of the light, it seemed to Seto his eyes flashed the color of blood.

Seto felt his blood chill. For a second…

_"Lord Set?"_

_"Yes Captain?" A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway. I make a beckoning motion with my hand and Jounouchi-who-is-**not**-Jounouchi kneels in front of me._

_"You don't have to kneel in front of me." I whisper._

_Jounouchi looks up at me shocked, which slowly melts into a wistful expression full of sadness and longing._

_Yet he says nothing._

_"You're taking a great risk in seeing me."_

_"I know..."_

_"Then why?"_

_"To let you know I'm still loyal to you."_

_"You're still loyal to my cousin, the Pharaoh."_

_I can see Jounouchi's heart breaking. His eyes well with tears he refuses to shed. "That I am"_

_"If it comes down to it…if you have to?" I ask hollowly._

_"I'll make it quick…" The Pharaoh is his master after all. He glances to the dagger strapped at his side and then at his chest. And so am I._

_He caresses the side of my face with his hand. A bold move, one forbidden to him because of his lower status to mine. It has been a long time since I cared about that with him._

_Jounouchi makes a choking noise and rushes out of the room. _

_I'm sorry too._

Seto shivered and scrambled to compose himself. Jounouchi was coming and he wouldn't show any weakness that the blonde could use against him later.

Why was this happening to him?

He had to stop this…NOW! Before he went totally insane!

The whirling and grinding noise of the elevator gears alerted Seto to Jounouchi's imminent arrival. Quickly he keyed on his intercom and instructed Yukino to herd Jounouchi in as soon as he stepped into the waiting room.

There was a ding and a few seconds later one of the massive and ornately carved doors opened. Yukino, shifting nervously and adjusting her glasses every few seconds, waved one of her hands to usher in an unseen person outside the door.

Jounouchi cautiously stepped around the mousy woman and peered into the den of the dragon himself. He had been here only once before, when Yugi's grandfather had come here to duel Kaiba for possession of the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon. He had seen Kaiba rip up the card on this very threshold.

He shivered. Why would Seto want him here? Sure there had been the matter of that little invite, but Jounouchi had hardly thought he'd been serious.

Scratch that then.

"Come in mutt. I don't bite."

"Sure you don't Kaiba…" Jounouchi said sarcastically as he stepped in, keeping an eye out for any nasty surprises, "but just in case I'll stay here."

The door slammed behind him ominously. Jounouchi winced. Locked in.

Seto raised an eyebrow at that. "Why don't you sit down Jounouchi?" He gestured to a sofa nestled up against one wall of the office, "You look…uncomfortable."

"Considering that the last time I was here we had to carry Yugi's grandfather out on a _stretcher_, I am." He folded his arms warily as he strode up to look Seto in the eye. "Let's get to it Kaiba. What do you want from me? I doubt you called me up here for my conversation skills." Jounouchi felt a slight burst of pain as he said those words, but it was true. Kaiba obviously wanted something _from him. He didn't want __him…_

"Straight to the point, eh, Jounouchi?" He could have sworn for a second that disappointment floated across Seto's face. "Very well." He unlocked the briefcase on his desk and pulled a bizarre fusion of disk and bent dueling board. It looked somewhat similar to the dueling disk system he had been crushed by in Duelist Kingdom. _Is it what I think it is?_ "I wanted to show you this."

"It's a dueling disk system, isn't it?" His voice was tinged with awe. Had he seen his reflection, he would have noticed the steady change of the color of his eyes from normal gold to red. The yami was peering out his eyes, quietly observing the other boy in front of them.

"Yes…I suppose you recognize the design from the prototype I used at Duelist Kingdom."

"Yeah…those two duels are kind of hard to forget." Again the pain struck his heart…

_He sagged to his knees as Kaiba loomed over him, his taunts ringing in his ears, the black cloud of humiliation and defeat consuming him from the inside out. He was withering, the world was darkening before him, he couldn't **breathe as that voice debased him and assured him of his lack of worth. And then the world seemed to blur as he found himself staring at the man he hated as he hated Pegasus, standing on that ledge, vulnerable, daring Yugi-who-couldn't-be-Yugi, **goading** him, into making his final strike on the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, obliterating it, and in the process sending Kaiba to his death. So much was on the line…so much…and in the haze and anger that had become his mind, he wished for Yugi to end it all…maybe then things would get better…and maybe…just maybe…he would gain a little peace.**_

_And then he'd seen Shizuka._

_Her ghostly form stood next to the dragon, and she turned and looked at Jounouchi pityingly. She shook her head, unseen to all else, and mouthed the word 'no'. Then, head held defiantly high, she joined Seto on the ledge. If he fell, so would she._

_He then remembered Mokuba and why Seto was actually there. All traces of hate were drowned by the realization that wishing and wanting his death would make him just as great a monster as Pegasus. His expression turned to one of horror as Yugi seemed to grapple with the decision whether or not to blow away the dragon, Seto, and the mirage of Shizuka._

_He didn't strike._

_Shizuka smiled and faded away._

Jounouchi blinked and the memories disappeared and he was left staring at the duel disk. He caught a glimpse of himself reflected back on the polished surface and realized that Katsuya was very close to coming out and taking over. His eyes were almost completely red. Only the barest hint of gold remained at the fringes of his irises. He hadn't even noticed the yami emerging.

He hadn't **_noticed_**.

At all.

_You're **NOT going to…**_

At this a wave of sorrow and desperate longing that was not his rocked Jounouchi and left him shaking. He gasped and fell to his knees.

_/ Set… /_

"Jounouchi!!! Are you okay!"

Jounouchi belatedly realized that this was the first time that Katsuya had actually seen Seto Kaiba. All the other times he'd been around, Katsuya had been sleeping or something very much like it. It was true that Seto and the High Priest bore an uncanny resemblance to each other (the only difference being that the Priest's skin was deeply tanned while Seto's was not)…but it couldn't be…Katsuya couldn't _believe_…

Oh shit.

He distantly felt his shoulders being shaken roughly and looked up. Seto gasped, and backed up slightly. His face was filled with terror, disbelief…and recognition.

"Who are you?"

Jounouchi felt an ember of hope flare up in Katsuya and he threw all his strength into keeping Katsuya from taking over, but it was as effective as trying to stop a wave from breaking over the sand.

_Don't hurt him!_

With that the world faded away.

"Who are you?"

The simple phrase echoed in Katsuya's ears. How could he _not know who he was? Here was the incarnate of Set staring at him like he was a total stranger._

_But to him you are a stranger…_Jounouchi interjected as gently as he could from his soul room. Katsuya was flooded by the fear his other felt for the boy in front of him. Jounouchi was trembling at the thought that Seto Kaiba might be harmed or worse in this encounter. Funny how protective his hikari was of his arch-rival. _Listen, he may be his incarnate just like I'm yours, but that doesn't mean that he's actually Set. His soul might not be in there with Seto's…Jounouchi's mental voice trailed off as he and Katsuya noticed that Seto was beginning to snap out of the shock they had put him into._

This wouldn't be pretty.

But he had to know.

The Millennium Ankh began to glimmer with a soft golden light and Katsuya snatched it from around his neck and pressed it to Seto's forehead before the other even had a chance to react. The Item flashed once and then Katsuya felt like he was being sucked down a drainpipe as he was funneled through the item into Seto's soul room.

Everything went white.

When his vision cleared, he found himself in a large chamber that branched out into many passageways, each lined with innumerable doors. The walls were made of a silvery-white reflective metal, and seemingly the only light in the room came from weirdly glowing pictograms engraved on their surfaced. Katsuya stepped closer to gain a better look and discovered the glyphs were in fact mostly hieroglyphics, with a scattering of hieratic through it. He could not read either form of the ancient Egyptian; he had been a lowly craftsman in his village, hewing and shaping wood into furniture and chests, not a merchant, and thus not required to learn how to read and write hieratic, the common written language used in trade throughout the kingdom. As for the hieroglyphics, only priests, officials and the Pharaoh had any real use for them, so they were the only ones required to learn about them. 

_Squeak._

Katsuya jumped back and held back a relieved laugh when he saw he stepped on. Underfoot had been a small bear, dusty and covered with cobwebs. Narrowing his eyes, he swept his gaze to find more toys propped in the corners of the chambers, suffering from similar neglect. He felt a surge of pity for Seto Kaiba. Here was a man who had to grow up too soon. 

Continuing his inspection, Katsuya found quickly in the very center of the chamber, a pedestal, made of carved white marble dragons, supporting a framed photo of a child with a thick mop of black hair. _/ The brother… / The picture itself sparkled with light, chasing the darkness away._

Katsuya supposed the doors in the hallways led to memories, but he had pried enough. He wasn't going to violate this man's privacy any further. He had come here for a specific reason and he had wasted enough time gawking. He raised the Ankh high above his head and sent its power throughout the soul room, searching, seeking, looking for any trace of the man he'd carried a forbidden love for.

What he found made him want to weep.

Yes, it was true that Seto Kaiba was Lord Set's incarnate, and all Set's memories and knowledge were here as well, locked away from Seto's conscious knowledge, but that was all. Set himself wasn't here.  

He fell to his knees. Why had he even bothered to hope? He had, after all, taken part in the events that lead up to the botched sealing of the Shadow Realm and his accidental imprisonment in the Ankh. He had seen what had happened to Set with his own eyes…

_/ All thanks to that bloody thief. / _he thought bitterly. Liquid began to trickle down his cheeks and splash on the floor.

He just didn't want to _believe_…

With a flick of his wrist he erased Seto's memories of his presence, purging everything after Seto had pulled out the duel disc, and then sent himself hurtling back to his own soul room.

_Are you okay?_

_/ I don't wanna talk about it. /_ he snapped back at Jounouchi. His host wisely let the subject drop though he could just _feel_ the concern ooze from Jounouchi, concern for Kaiba and concern for…_him? What the…why would Jounouchi even care? He was pretty sure that the other boy only saw him as an annoyance, indeed to him, Jounouchi was a irritating but necessary part of life, who thought little about what came out of his mouth, and even less of his own self worth. Sometimes he wanted to take a rolled up newspaper to that boy…_

Perhaps he'd thought wrong.

Perhaps not.

_/ I don't need your concern Jounouchi. You couldn't possibly understand. /_

_Sure I couldn't_, Jounouchi muttered bitterly. The face of a girl with long brown hair and bright blue eyes flashed across their mindscape. _How could I possibly know…_

But Katsuya had no reply for this as both noticed Seto was waking up from what Katsuya had done.

_Room…spinning…head…throbbing…There's a face in front of me…Jounouchi?_

Seto Kaiba blinked as he propped himself up and immediately voiced the first thought that came to mind.

"What the hell am I doing on the floor!" he growled, a slight flush staining his cheeks. Had he passed out? The last thing he remembered doing was showing Jounouchi the new duel disk and then everything after was a curious blank. Then a more horrifying realization occurred to him. He had _passed out_ in front of _Jounouchi! The best friend of his arch-rival! Seto could already envision Jounouchi telling __everyone about his little episode, telling __Yugi! His carefully wrought reputation would be in tatters because of the dog! He spat out carpet fibers that had somehow found themselves into his mouth. How could he have been so _weak?__

Jounouchi seemed to sense the thoughts running through his head as well; he backed up several paces and raised his hands in a placating gesture. Seto relaxed slightly and Jounouchi took a couple of tentative steps forward, carefully, as if he was approaching a wounded and highly dangerous beast.

He wordlessly held out a hand.

At first, Seto considered slapping it away but that impulse faded as he realized that Jounouchi was truly making a sincere gesture. Grasping onto it, he noticed it was warm and strong; Jounouchi having a grip that equaled his own. 

"I won't tell anyone."

Eyes are often said to be windows to the soul. When Seto looked into Jounouchi's, he could see the understanding of his own inner turmoil and he _knew_ Jounouchi wouldn't breathe a word about what had transpired. They were both men of pride after all. As well, he knew if he found the roles reversed, with Jounouchi in the embarrassing situation, Seto would keep his peace…for once. It seemed a promise had been forged in those scant seconds.

This would not be spoken of again.

"How's it different?" Jounouchi asked, steering their focus towards the duel disk again.

Seto smirked, "Well for one thing it has projectile holographic projectors, so the need for any dueling arena is eliminated, and the players can duel in any setting they choose. Monster cards are placed directly on the board…" he indicated five card shaped sensors on the surface of the board, "…while magic and trap cards are placed in slots running along the edge…as for its other attributes, a practical demonstration would speak for them more clearly than I could."

"…Practical…demonstration?" A hint of trepidation crept onto Jounouchi's face. "You mean…?"

"Why yes," again Seto smirked predatorily, "You have often wished for a rematch against me, so here's your chance. Unless you are _afraid…"_

Jounouchi's face darkened and he violently shook his head 'no'.

"So then, let's duel."

**Triste** I'm glad you think Katsuya is cool. Yeah, he is kinda violent, isn't he? Ah well. Heh, heh, heh, I'm glad you like the Honda/Otogi/Miho scene. There will be more of those to come, for the simple reason not many people write about them. **Amai Shinigami, I promise to update more, sooner, if that problem I mention at the beginning of this chapter manages to clear up soon. Cookies? Thank you, I _love cookies. **Shi-koi**, yanno, I've always thought that the relationship between Katsuya and Jounouchi was a bit like Sai and Hikaru's from Hikaru no Go, although with a much more ruthless and bloodthirsty Sai (who's read the manga or seen the anime anyway? Just curious…) Not as psychotic? Err….most of the time no. And yes, there will be more Yami/Bakura interactions. In fact, next chapter they…~shuts up~ _****silgi, is this enough Katsuya for you? My, everyone seems to like him. **Evil Windstar** and **Larania**, I promise to update when I can. **Luki Dimension **thanks very much for your nice words. **Echo**, perhaps, perhaps not ~secretive smirk~ **Jadej.j**, I _know_ you'll enjoy what I have planned. But I'm not telling. **Taito-kisses**, I don't think he's calmed down quite yet. In fact…I believe…he's just getting started. ~ominous thunder~ **Blue Lagoon Loon**, you love Katsuya too? Man the boy charms everyone. Thanks for saying this is fleshing out very well…that's the best compliment I've received. ****Jou-pup, I think he does too. More Katsuya, just because _you_ asked. The link to the art is below, if anybody wants to check out more of my work, just remove the /obeah from the address and that will take you directly to the entrance page to my site.**

Alright, next time on Obeah, it's the moment everyone's been waiting for: Seto and Jou finally face off. But, will Katsuya interfere…and _how?! Also we find out what Yami and Yugi have been doing all this time and we see that Yami truly defines the term 'sexcellent'. But the real question is, how long can Jounouchi keep the presence of Katsuya a secret, and _should _he?_

Conceptual art can be found at: iridium(dot)eigomanga(dot)net(slash)obeah. Just replace the bracketed slashes and dots with the real thing, okay?


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